<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-says-migrant-numbers-at-us-border-down-40-since-may-239609">Mexico</a> narrowly avoided slipping into recession during the first half of 2019 as the gross domestic product grew by a fraction in the second quarter, an initial estimate showed, but weakness persisted across the board.

A preliminary reading by the national statistics agency on Wednesday showed that Mexico's economy, Latin America's second-biggest, grew by 0.1 per cent in the April-June period from the previous quarter when adjusted for seasonal swings.

A Reuters poll of economists had forecast GDP would be flat compared with the first quarter when the economy shrank by 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

In unadjusted terms, the economy contracted by 0.7 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

Economists generally define two consecutive quarters of negative GDP as a technical recession, though there is no established global definition for the phenomenon.

The government has rejected the suggestion that the country is in a slump, and <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-adviser-influential-senator-cast-doubt-on-mexico-tariffs-224742">President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador</a> on Monday was adamant that Mexico is not in a recession.

Investor confidence in Mexico has been shaken by some of the decisions of Lopez Obrador, a leftist exponent of economic nationalism who took office in December vowing to reduce chronic inequality and deliver average annual growth of 4 per cent.

In particular, his decision to cancel a partly built $13 billion new Mexico City airport and his retreat from the prior government's opening of the oil and gas industry to private capital have raised doubts about his economic credentials.

During the past few months, private and public sector analysts have pared back their Mexican growth forecasts, with some now predicting little expansion at all in 2019. Lopez Obrador said he expects growth of 2 per cent this year.

The president has attacked critics of his policies as supporters of what he has characterized as a corrupt "neo-liberal" era that preceded his time in office.

However, he has also had to contend with the risk of economic disruption from the United States the destination for around 80 per cent of Mexico's goods exports due to tensions with US President Donald Trump over illegal immigration.

Mexico narrowly avoided slipping into recession during the first half of 2019 as the gross domestic product grew by a fraction in the second quarter, an initial estimate showed, but weakness persisted across the board.

Mexico narrowly avoided slipping into recession during the first half of 2019 as the gross domestic product grew by a fraction in the second quarter, an initial estimate showed, but weakness persisted across the board. A preliminary reading by the national statistics agency on Wednesday showed that Mexico's economy, Latin America's second-biggest, grew by 0.1 per cent in the April-June period from the previous quarter when adjusted for seasonal swings. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast GDP would be flat compared with the first quarter when the economy shrank by 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter. In unadjusted terms, the economy contracted by 0.7 per cent from the same period a year earlier. Economists generally define two consecutive quarters of negative GDP as a technical recession, though there is no established global definition for the phenomenon. The government has rejected the suggestion that the country is in a slump, and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday was adamant that Mexico is not in a recession. Investor confidence in Mexico has been shaken by some of the decisions of Lopez Obrador, a leftist exponent of economic nationalism who took office in December vowing to reduce chronic inequality and deliver average annual growth of 4 per cent. In particular, his decision to cancel a partly built $13 billion new Mexico City airport and his retreat from the prior government's opening of the oil and gas industry to private capital have raised doubts about his economic credentials. During the past few months, private and public sector analysts have pared back their Mexican growth forecasts, with some now predicting little expansion at all in 2019. Lopez Obrador said he expects growth of 2 per cent this year. The president has attacked critics of his policies as supporters of what he has characterized as a corrupt "neo-liberal" era that preceded his time in office. However, he has also had to contend with the risk of economic disruption from the United States the destination for around 80 per cent of Mexico's goods exports due to tensions with US President Donald Trump over illegal immigration.

Mexico narrowly escapes recession with minimal second-quarter growth

Asylum seekers have installed see-saw across U.S-Mexico border. Immigrants playful yet serious protests against divide. $2.5 Bn being redirected for the wall at U.S-Mexico border. Over 20,000 immigrants sent back to Mexico this year.

See-Saw Border: Unique way of protest at U.S-Mexico border

A scheme to create 20,000 jobs in Honduras has been agreed between the country's president and Mexico's leader in an attempt to stem the flow of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pompeo-and-mexican-counterpart-welcome-reduced-flow-of-migrants-237547">migrants toward the United States</a>.

Mexico, which is a stepping stone to the US for many from Central America seeking to escape violence and poverty, has seen a wave of migrants sweep through in the past few months, causing tensions with Washington.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/mexico-to-help-create-20000-jobs-in-honduras-to-curb-migration-238977/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met his Honduran counterpart Juan Orlando Hernandez in the Mexican state of Veracruz on Saturday to sign an agreement to extend a development program to Honduras, which includes a tree-planting scheme already active in Mexico.

Called "Sowing Life", the scheme pays farmers a small monthly stipend to plant trees and crops. Mexico signed a deal with El Salvador last month to introduce the same project to the Central American state.

Hernandez said the scheme was the "correct path" to boost both country's economies and called for the creation of a "great international coalition for generating huge numbers of jobs" in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Mexico will support Honduras "to create 20,000 jobs between now and December," said Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

US President Donald Trump had threatened stiff new trade tariffs against the United States' southern neighbour unless it acted decisively to stem the migrant wave. But tensions calmed after Mexico's deployment of thousands of security forces to its borders last month.

The large majority of Central Americans who cross Mexico for the US are from Honduras. Some say they are fleeing persecution by the Hernandez government, having participated in protests after his election.

A scheme to create 20,000 jobs in Honduras has been agreed between the country's president and Mexico's leader in an attempt to stem the flow of migrants toward the United States.

A scheme to create 20,000 jobs in Honduras has been agreed between the country's president and Mexico's leader in an attempt to stem the flow of migrants toward the United States. Mexico, which is a stepping stone to the US for many from Central America seeking to escape violence and poverty, has seen a wave of migrants sweep through in the past few months, causing tensions with Washington. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met his Honduran counterpart Juan Orlando Hernandez in the Mexican state of Veracruz on Saturday to sign an agreement to extend a development program to Honduras, which includes a tree-planting scheme already active in Mexico. Called "Sowing Life", the scheme pays farmers a small monthly stipend to plant trees and crops. Mexico signed a deal with El Salvador last month to introduce the same project to the Central American state. Hernandez said the scheme was the "correct path" to boost both country's economies and called for the creation of a "great international coalition for generating huge numbers of jobs" in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Mexico will support Honduras "to create 20,000 jobs between now and December," said Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard. US President Donald Trump had threatened stiff new trade tariffs against the United States' southern neighbour unless it acted decisively to stem the migrant wave. But tensions calmed after Mexico's deployment of thousands of security forces to its borders last month. The large majority of Central Americans who cross Mexico for the US are from Honduras. Some say they are fleeing persecution by the Hernandez government, having participated in protests after his election.

Mexico, Honduras agree to create 20,000 jobs and stem migration

Mexico's government said on Saturday (July 27) it would help Honduras create 20,000 jobs this year and support its coffee farmers as the two countries seek to curb migration to the United States that has created tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his Honduran counterpart, Juan Orlando Hernandez, pledged to work together to lift prosperity in Central America, where poverty and violence have fuelled an exodus of people north. That migration has angered Trump, who has made border security a priority, and issued economic threats against Mexico and Central America if more is not done to contain the flows. Speaking after the Honduran and Mexican leaders met in the eastern state of Veracruz, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Lopez Obrador had given instructions to help Honduras create 20,000 jobs between now and December.

Mexico to help create 20,000 jobs in Honduras to curb migration

Mexican boxing legend Julio Cesar&nbsp;Chavez&nbsp;said on Friday he had been mugged by armed robbers in Mexico City, and he slammed mounting violence that has recently plagued the capital.

"I've just been the victim of a robbery, with a pistol to my head, my watch and chain were snatched. There's no question your life can be gone in a second," the 57-year-old&nbsp;Chavez&nbsp;wrote on Twitter. "The insecurity in Mexico City is enough to make you weep."

Chavez&nbsp;did not provide more details on the incident, aside from suggesting that a companion was also robbed.

Via Twitter, the Mexico City attorney general's office asked&nbsp;Chavez&nbsp;to get in contact with authorities about the incident. Mexico is currently suffering from record murder levels that have made the capital, long regarded as a relatively safe haven, increasingly prone to outbreaks of violent crime.

Problems with security were under the spotlight this week when two Israeli men were gunned down inside an upmarket Mexico City shopping mall in an apparent gangland hit.

A former world champion at three different weight divisions,&nbsp;Chavez&nbsp;during his prime was considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. He is widely held to be one of the greatest Mexican boxers of all time.

Mexican boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez said on Friday he had been mugged by armed robbers in Mexico City, and he slammed mounting violence that has recently plagued the capital.

Mexican boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez said on Friday he had been mugged by armed robbers in Mexico City, and he slammed mounting violence that has recently plagued the capital. "I've just been the victim of a robbery, with a pistol to my head, my watch and chain were snatched. There's no question your life can be gone in a second," the 57-year-old Chavez wrote on Twitter. "The insecurity in Mexico City is enough to make you weep." Chavez did not provide more details on the incident, aside from suggesting that a companion was also robbed. Via Twitter, the Mexico City attorney general's office asked Chavez to get in contact with authorities about the incident. Mexico is currently suffering from record murder levels that have made the capital, long regarded as a relatively safe haven, increasingly prone to outbreaks of violent crime. Problems with security were under the spotlight this week when two Israeli men were gunned down inside an upmarket Mexico City shopping mall in an apparent gangland hit. A former world champion at three different weight divisions, Chavez during his prime was considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. He is widely held to be one of the greatest Mexican boxers of all time.

Boxing legend Chavez says he was mugged at gunpoint in Mexico City

When <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-attacks-robert-mueller-ahead-of-testimony-on-russia-probe-237817">US President Donald Trump</a> tweeted in May his intention to raise tariffs on Chinese goods, management at California-based NewAir Appliances knew they needed to do something or their business would be in trouble.&nbsp;

The importer of beer fridges, ice makers and other household devices all sourced from <a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/mass-protests-protect-hong-kongs-legal-autonomy-from-china-for-now-228567">China</a> had tackled 10 per cent tariffs imposed last year by seeking to cut costs and negotiating with big box and other retailers for better terms.

But the jump to 25 per cent tariffs presented a much bigger challenge.

The day after Trump's tweet, NewAir's four-member leadership team met for lunch and began to formulate a more radical plan. There was a "level of tension", said Andrew Stephenson, the company's vice president for marketing, but no sense of panic.

The result: an ambitious overhaul of its product offerings, with 50-60 new or revamped goods set to come on the market this year a move that allows the company to hit the reset button on pricing as their costs leap.

The product turnover is a huge increase for NewAir, which has a range of some 70 goods and usually introduces 10 or fewer new items each year.

Like NewAir, many importers of goods from China have had to make difficult business decisions and sharp changes in strategy as they reel from the impact of US tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods.

With consumers and retailers often unwilling to accept higher prices for the same products, oft-heard tactics range from accepting lower profit-margins to cost-cutting that may include lowering wages or laying off workers, to shifting production from China to other countries.

While the approach taken by NewAir and others in the sector requires significant investment, it underscores how the year-long US-China trade war is forcing some companies to adopt novel workarounds as they fight for long-term survival and bump up against the limitations of belt-tightening.

"Instead of cutting costs we're going to add some costs, but in the long run it will pay off," Stephenson said by telephone after a trip to China to meet suppliers.

Working closely with suppliers to develop products, he is also implementing measures like air-mailing samples to the United States instead of using cheaper maritime freight, aiming to slash up to a month of the process of getting goods approved.

"Anything we can do to expedite the process is what we're looking at doing," he said.

NewAir, a company with 50-plus employees, would likely spend "hundreds of thousands of dollars" on the project and was considering hiring a marketing manager, as Stephenson's focus shifts to dealing full-time with trade war strategy.

Up featuring

NewAir, whose products are sold under its brand as well as under licence with Magic Chef, Frigidaire and PepsiCo Inc, is still discussing ways to share the burden of the tariffs with Chinese suppliers and American retailers. It is also looking into sourcing some goods from India and Mexico.

But the cornerstone of its new strategy is the overhaul of its product line.

In addition to items it has not sold before, such as internet-enabled wine fridges and combination air fryer ovens, NewAir will retire some old products and give others that have been modified fresh SKUs, or stock-keeping units - unique product numbers that retailers use to track inventory. That will allow NewAir and its retailers to set new prices.

Jim Estill, CEO of Danby Appliances, a Canadian company that sources similar products from China and sells many in the United States, calls the strategy "up featuring".

"If you're already buying a minifridge for $129 and now it's $149. You're up in arms. But the psychology is completely different if you say: 'here's the new XYZ, it's $149' and the customer checks the market and sees everyone is charging $149 for the same thing, it's acceptable."

Danby expects to turn over 80 per cent of its product line of about 300 goods in 2019, compared to a normal rate of 30 per cent, he said, adding that improvements in technology had made this an opportune time for product revamps.

"If this happened 10 years ago, it would have been tough to say my white box is different. But now you can say I have a freezer that sends you an email when the power is out."

Danby, which makes annual revenue of about $400 million, estimates the cost of revamping its product line at around $4 million.

If the strategy works, it does in part shift some of the costs of tariffs designed to hurt China to the US consumer. But it is not risk-free.

"When you sell new products at significantly higher prices it will affect your demand somewhat because now you are asking people to upgrade to a better product at much higher prices. How many consumers would have such budgets?" said Jing Bing, an associate professor of marketing at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing.

The point of pursuing a trade war "is to ask the American consumers to walk away from Chinese made products," he said, adding: "That's precisely the effect."

NewAir CEO Luke Peters said retailers and consumers will get better products and will not see "a huge 25 per cent increase" in prices.

"Our customers, who also have to be profitable, are going to see more value in the products that we're giving to them. So it's kind of forcing us to be more innovative," he said.

But whether or not importers like NewAir can find a balance between higher prices and demand remains to be seen.

"That's going to be the telltale for us, is what happens in about six to nine months," said Stephenson.

When US President Donald Trump tweeted in May his intention to raise tariffs on Chinese goods, management at California-based NewAir Appliances knew they needed to do something or their business would be in trouble.

When US President Donald Trump tweeted in May his intention to raise tariffs on Chinese goods, management at California-based NewAir Appliances knew they needed to do something or their business would be in trouble. The importer of beer fridges, ice makers and other household devices all sourced from China had tackled 10 per cent tariffs imposed last year by seeking to cut costs and negotiating with big box and other retailers for better terms. But the jump to 25 per cent tariffs presented a much bigger challenge. The day after Trump's tweet, NewAir's four-member leadership team met for lunch and began to formulate a more radical plan. There was a "level of tension", said Andrew Stephenson, the company's vice president for marketing, but no sense of panic. The result: an ambitious overhaul of its product offerings, with 50-60 new or revamped goods set to come on the market this year a move that allows the company to hit the reset button on pricing as their costs leap. The product turnover is a huge increase for NewAir, which has a range of some 70 goods and usually introduces 10 or fewer new items each year. Like NewAir, many importers of goods from China have had to make difficult business decisions and sharp changes in strategy as they reel from the impact of US tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods. With consumers and retailers often unwilling to accept higher prices for the same products, oft-heard tactics range from accepting lower profit-margins to cost-cutting that may include lowering wages or laying off workers, to shifting production from China to other countries. While the approach taken by NewAir and others in the sector requires significant investment, it underscores how the year-long US-China trade war is forcing some companies to adopt novel workarounds as they fight for long-term survival and bump up against the limitations of belt-tightening. "Instead of cutting costs we're going to add some costs, but in the long run it will pay off," Stephenson said by telephone after a trip to China to meet suppliers. Working closely with suppliers to develop products, he is also implementing measures like air-mailing samples to the United States instead of using cheaper maritime freight, aiming to slash up to a month of the process of getting goods approved. "Anything we can do to expedite the process is what we're looking at doing," he said. NewAir, a company with 50-plus employees, would likely spend "hundreds of thousands of dollars" on the project and was considering hiring a marketing manager, as Stephenson's focus shifts to dealing full-time with trade war strategy. Up featuring NewAir, whose products are sold under its brand as well as under licence with Magic Chef, Frigidaire and PepsiCo Inc, is still discussing ways to share the burden of the tariffs with Chinese suppliers and American retailers. It is also looking into sourcing some goods from India and Mexico. But the cornerstone of its new strategy is the overhaul of its product line. In addition to items it has not sold before, such as internet-enabled wine fridges and combination air fryer ovens, NewAir will retire some old products and give others that have been modified fresh SKUs, or stock-keeping units - unique product numbers that retailers use to track inventory. That will allow NewAir and its retailers to set new prices. Jim Estill, CEO of Danby Appliances, a Canadian company that sources similar products from China and sells many in the United States, calls the strategy "up featuring". "If you're already buying a minifridge for $129 and now it's $149. You're up in arms. But the psychology is completely different if you say: 'here's the new XYZ, it's $149' and the customer checks the market and sees everyone is charging $149 for the same thing, it's acceptable." Danby expects to turn over 80 per cent of its product line of about 300 goods in 2019, compared to a normal rate of 30 per cent, he said, adding that improvements in technology had made this an opportune time for product revamps. "If this happened 10 years ago, it would have been tough to say my white box is different. But now you can say I have a freezer that sends you an email when the power is out." Danby, which makes annual revenue of about $400 million, estimates the cost of revamping its product line at around $4 million. If the strategy works, it does in part shift some of the costs of tariffs designed to hurt China to the US consumer. But it is not risk-free. "When you sell new products at significantly higher prices it will affect your demand somewhat because now you are asking people to upgrade to a better product at much higher prices. How many consumers would have such budgets?" said Jing Bing, an associate professor of marketing at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Beijing. The point of pursuing a trade war "is to ask the American consumers to walk away from Chinese made products," he said, adding: "That's precisely the effect." NewAir CEO Luke Peters said retailers and consumers will get better products and will not see "a huge 25 per cent increase" in prices. "Our customers, who also have to be profitable, are going to see more value in the products that we're giving to them. So it's kind of forcing us to be more innovative," he said. But whether or not importers like NewAir can find a balance between higher prices and demand remains to be seen. "That's going to be the telltale for us, is what happens in about six to nine months," said Stephenson.

To survive trade war, some US importers embark on major revamps of product lines

Global trade tensions, continued uncertainty and rising prospects for a <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-lawmakers-vote-in-bid-to-frustrate-no-deal-brexit-236976">no-deal Brexit</a> are sapping the strength of the world economy, which faces a "precarious" 2020, the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/christine-lagarde-resigns-as-international-monetary-fund-chief-starting-race-for-her-successor-236536">International Monetary Fund</a> warned on Tuesday.

Trade conflicts are undercutting investment and weakening manufacturing, and the IMF urged countries to avoid using tariffs to resolve their differences.

In the quarterly update of its World Economic Outlook, the IMF trimmed the global forecast issued in April by 0.1 percentage point this year and next, with growth expected to hit 3.2 per cent in 2019 and 3.5 per cent in 2020.

But the report sounded the alarm, saying things could easily go wrong.

"Global growth is sluggish and precarious, but it does not have to be this way, because some of this is self-inflicted," IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath told reporters.

"Dynamism in the global economy is being weighed down by prolonged policy uncertainty as trade tensions remain heightened despite the recent US-China trade truce... and the prospects of a no-deal Brexit have increased," she said at a briefing in Santiago, Chile.

Gopinath warned that the recovery is seen next year "is precarious" because "close to 70 per cent of the increase relies on an improvement in the growth performance in stressed emerging market and developing economies and is therefore subject to high uncertainty."

However, the United States, which is at the centre of most of the trade tensions, saw one of the rare upgrades in the report, as it got a short-term boost from strong economic growth in the early part of the year.&nbsp;

The IMF raised the US GDP forecast by three-tenths of a percentage point to 2.6 per cent for 2019, but weakening demand, in part due to the trade conflicts and tariffs, points to "slowing momentum over the rest of the year."&nbsp;

US economic growth is expected to slow to 1.9 per cent in 2020.

China, which is the main target of US trade actions, was already experiencing a slowdown. But "the negative effects of escalating tariffs and weakening external demand have added pressure," the report said. A sudden slowdown in China is a key risk to the world economy.

The report downgraded Chinese growth by a tenth of a point this year and next, to 6.2 per cent and 6.0 per cent.

Avoid policy missteps

The IMF cautioned that there is an abundance of "potential triggers" for the situation to turn negative quickly, including the possibility of more US tariffs on China or on European autos, as well as a no-deal Brexit and high debt levels in many countries.

"While the tensions abated in June, durable agreements to resolve differences remain subject to possibly protracted and difficult negotiations," the report said.

Gopinath repeated the IMF calculation showing that the combined effect of tariffs imposed last year and potential tariffs threatened in May between the United States and China could reduce global GDP in 2020 by 0.5 per cent.

The latest forecast was once again full of downgrades, with small downward revisions for Germany and Japan, but much larger cuts for Brazil, Mexico, Russia, India and South Africa countries that were the engine for global growth in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

The IMF again stressed that resolving uncertainty remains the most pressing issue for the global economy and said governments should avoid "policy missteps" that could have "a severely debilitating effect on sentiment, growth and job creation."

And "countries should not use tariffs to target bilateral trade balances," the report said while recognizing that "trade disputes may be symptoms of deeper frustration with gaps in the rules-based multilateral trading system."

President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in June agreed to a truce in their trade hostilities.&nbsp;

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is set to lead a delegation to China on Monday for the first face-to-face meeting since talks collapsed in May, according to media reports.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the "overriding objective" is to get a good deal, which "is much more important than exact timing."

Global trade tensions, continued uncertainty and rising prospects for a no-deal Brexit are sapping the strength of the world economy, which faces a "precarious" 2020, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday.

Global trade tensions, continued uncertainty and rising prospects for a no-deal Brexit are sapping the strength of the world economy, which faces a "precarious" 2020, the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday. Trade conflicts are undercutting investment and weakening manufacturing, and the IMF urged countries to avoid using tariffs to resolve their differences. In the quarterly update of its World Economic Outlook, the IMF trimmed the global forecast issued in April by 0.1 percentage point this year and next, with growth expected to hit 3.2 per cent in 2019 and 3.5 per cent in 2020. But the report sounded the alarm, saying things could easily go wrong. "Global growth is sluggish and precarious, but it does not have to be this way, because some of this is self-inflicted," IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath told reporters. "Dynamism in the global economy is being weighed down by prolonged policy uncertainty as trade tensions remain heightened despite the recent US-China trade truce... and the prospects of a no-deal Brexit have increased," she said at a briefing in Santiago, Chile. Gopinath warned that the recovery is seen next year "is precarious" because "close to 70 per cent of the increase relies on an improvement in the growth performance in stressed emerging market and developing economies and is therefore subject to high uncertainty." However, the United States, which is at the centre of most of the trade tensions, saw one of the rare upgrades in the report, as it got a short-term boost from strong economic growth in the early part of the year. The IMF raised the US GDP forecast by three-tenths of a percentage point to 2.6 per cent for 2019, but weakening demand, in part due to the trade conflicts and tariffs, points to "slowing momentum over the rest of the year." US economic growth is expected to slow to 1.9 per cent in 2020. China, which is the main target of US trade actions, was already experiencing a slowdown. But "the negative effects of escalating tariffs and weakening external demand have added pressure," the report said. A sudden slowdown in China is a key risk to the world economy. The report downgraded Chinese growth by a tenth of a point this year and next, to 6.2 per cent and 6.0 per cent. Avoid policy missteps The IMF cautioned that there is an abundance of "potential triggers" for the situation to turn negative quickly, including the possibility of more US tariffs on China or on European autos, as well as a no-deal Brexit and high debt levels in many countries. "While the tensions abated in June, durable agreements to resolve differences remain subject to possibly protracted and difficult negotiations," the report said. Gopinath repeated the IMF calculation showing that the combined effect of tariffs imposed last year and potential tariffs threatened in May between the United States and China could reduce global GDP in 2020 by 0.5 per cent. The latest forecast was once again full of downgrades, with small downward revisions for Germany and Japan, but much larger cuts for Brazil, Mexico, Russia, India and South Africa countries that were the engine for global growth in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The IMF again stressed that resolving uncertainty remains the most pressing issue for the global economy and said governments should avoid "policy missteps" that could have "a severely debilitating effect on sentiment, growth and job creation." And "countries should not use tariffs to target bilateral trade balances," the report said while recognizing that "trade disputes may be symptoms of deeper frustration with gaps in the rules-based multilateral trading system." President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in June agreed to a truce in their trade hostilities. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is set to lead a delegation to China on Monday for the first face-to-face meeting since talks collapsed in May, according to media reports. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the "overriding objective" is to get a good deal, which "is much more important than exact timing."

International Monetary Fund downgrades world growth, warns of 'precarious' 2020

Murders in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/the-rise-and-fall-of-el-chapo-mexicos-most-wanted-kingpin-236726">Mexico</a> jumped in the first half of the year to the highest on record, according to official data, underscoring the vast challenges President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador faces in reducing <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/drug-lord-el-chapo-given-life-sentence-by-us-judge-236721">violence in the cartel-ravaged country</a>.

There were 14,603 murders from January to June, versus the 13,985 homicides registered in the first six months of 2018, according to data posted over the weekend on the website of Mexico`s national public security office.

Mexico is on course to surpass the 29,111 murders of last year, an all-time high.

For years Mexico has struggled with violence as consecutive governments battled brutal drug cartels, often by taking out their leaders. That has resulted in the fragmentation of gangs and increasingly vicious internecine fighting.

Veteran leftist Lopez Obrador, who took office in December, has blamed the economic policies of previous administrations for exacerbating the violence and said his government was targeting the issue by rooting out corruption and inequality in Mexico.

"Social policies are very important - we agree they`ll have positive effects. But these positive effects will be seen in the long term," said Francisco Rivas, director of the National Citizen Observatory, a civil group that monitors justice and security in Mexico.

The complexity of fighting criminal groups is a major test for Lopez Obrador`s young administration, which has vowed to try a different approach than that of his predecessor.

His administration last month launched a new militarized National Guard police force tasked with helping to fix the problem.

Murders in Mexico jumped in the first half of the year to the highest on record, according to official data, underscoring the vast challenges President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador faces in reducing violence in the cartel-ravaged country.

Murders in Mexico jumped in the first half of the year to the highest on record, according to official data, underscoring the vast challenges President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador faces in reducing violence in the cartel-ravaged country. There were 14,603 murders from January to June, versus the 13,985 homicides registered in the first six months of 2018, according to data posted over the weekend on the website of Mexico`s national public security office. Mexico is on course to surpass the 29,111 murders of last year, an all-time high. For years Mexico has struggled with violence as consecutive governments battled brutal drug cartels, often by taking out their leaders. That has resulted in the fragmentation of gangs and increasingly vicious internecine fighting. Veteran leftist Lopez Obrador, who took office in December, has blamed the economic policies of previous administrations for exacerbating the violence and said his government was targeting the issue by rooting out corruption and inequality in Mexico. "Social policies are very important - we agree they`ll have positive effects. But these positive effects will be seen in the long term," said Francisco Rivas, director of the National Citizen Observatory, a civil group that monitors justice and security in Mexico. The complexity of fighting criminal groups is a major test for Lopez Obrador`s young administration, which has vowed to try a different approach than that of his predecessor. His administration last month launched a new militarized National Guard police force tasked with helping to fix the problem.

Over 14 thousand killed in six months, murders hit record numbers in Mexico

El Chapo's winding road from mountain village to drug lord to US prison

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/drug-lord-el-chapo-given-life-sentence-by-us-judge-236721">trial of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman</a> provided a rare and terrifying look into the workings of one of the world's largest cartels.

Over the space of nearly three months, a New York jury heard 56 government witnesses deliver dramatic evidence against <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/el-chapo-dramatic-escapes-and-arrests-236735">Guzman</a> who was<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/el-chapo-sent-to-tough-supermax-prison-where-911-conspirator-boston-bomber-are-lodged-236729"> sentenced to life imprisonment </a>on Wednesday.

According to the witnesses, the Sinaloa cartel, of which Guzman was a co-leader, flooded the United States with cocaine with the blessing of countless police, military officers and Mexican officials - going all the way up to the President - who turned their heads in exchange for bribes worth millions.

On February 12, a jury had found Guzman guilty of crimes spanning a quarter century.

Here is a summary of some of the highlights of the trial:

Torture and killings

Isaias Valdez Rios, described as a hired killer for El Chapo, testified that he saw the drug kingpin torture and execute three rival traffickers, burying one of them alive. The two others had bones broken before being killed. Their bodies were then burned.

Other witnesses said they had seen El Chapo order kidnappings and killings of rivals or of police who refused to accept bribes. They said El Chapo had a permanent security guard of perhaps 100 men armed with pistols, automatic weapons, grenades and rocket launchers.

Bribes

Two former partners of Guzman testified that he paid millions of dollars in bribes to senior officials of the Mexican government to hunt down rivals, expand his business, and dodge the authorities and police at all levels -and even within Interpol.

His attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said Guzman also bribed two Mexican presidents - Enrique Pena Nieto and Felipe Calderon - but they denied this.

'Chupeta'

With his face disfigured by repeated rounds of plastic surgery to conceal his identity, Juan Carlos "Chupeta" Ramirez, a former boss of a Colombian drug cartel, testified that with help from Guzman, he smuggled more than 400 tons of cocaine to the US from 1989 until his own arrest in 2007.

Ramirez, who said he had ordered the death of some 150 people and was one of Guzman's main cocaine suppliers, said he did business with the latter - paying him with drugs - because he managed to get the merchandise to the US "very quickly."

&nbsp;A steep price markup

El Chapo's accountant, Jesus Zambada, told the jury how El Chapo purchased Colombian cocaine for $3,000 a kilo and then sold it in New York for $35,000 a kilo.

All the drugs, an average of 80 to 100 tons a year, were sent to the United States, he said.

Compromising recordings

With the help of Christian Rodriguez, a Colombian who was El Chapo's communications chief, US government agents intercepted some 200 conversations between the cartel boss and his associates, hired killers, and corrupt Mexican officials.

Investigators also intercepted encrypted messages between El Chapo and others, sent on Blackberries that the trafficker used to spy on his associates and his mistresses.

In one message read to the jury, El Chapo speaks with associate and a former mistress known as "la Fiera" about setting up dummy corporations in Germany and Ecuador in order to export drugs "to Europe, to Canada, to Australia and to the United States." They also discuss the purchase in Belize of 700 kilograms (1,540 pounds) of cocaine.&nbsp;

Airplanes full of dollars

El Chapo's former pilot and business manager, Miguel Angel "Gordo" Martinez, testified that the cartel boss would sometimes receive as many as three cash-filled airplanes from the United States in a single day. Each plane carried "eight to 10 million dollars," he said.

He also told how El Chapo worked with Colombian suppliers to finance deliveries of up to 14 tons of cocaine -- transported by boat to international waters off Mexico, where Colombian crews would hand over the drugs to El Chapo's employees.

Martinez estimated that from 1990 to 1993, El Chapo thus imported 25 to 30 tons of cocaine into Mexico each year.

The lover

A former lover and partner of Guzman, Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez, testified in the presence of his wife, Emma Coronel, that one night in 2014, the two came close to being captured by Mexican marines and escaped through a tunnel built under a bathtub in a house in Culiacan state.

She said Guzman was totally naked as he ran ahead of her and left her behind.

The trial of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman provided a rare and terrifying look into the workings of one of the world's largest cartels. Over the space of nearly three months, a New York jury heard 56 government witnesses deliver dramatic evidence against Guzman who was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday.

The trial of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman provided a rare and terrifying look into the workings of one of the world's largest cartels. Over the space of nearly three months, a New York jury heard 56 government witnesses deliver dramatic evidence against Guzman who was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday. According to the witnesses, the Sinaloa cartel, of which Guzman was a co-leader, flooded the United States with cocaine with the blessing of countless police, military officers and Mexican officials - going all the way up to the President - who turned their heads in exchange for bribes worth millions. On February 12, a jury had found Guzman guilty of crimes spanning a quarter century. Here is a summary of some of the highlights of the trial: Torture and killings Isaias Valdez Rios, described as a hired killer for El Chapo, testified that he saw the drug kingpin torture and execute three rival traffickers, burying one of them alive. The two others had bones broken before being killed. Their bodies were then burned. Other witnesses said they had seen El Chapo order kidnappings and killings of rivals or of police who refused to accept bribes. They said El Chapo had a permanent security guard of perhaps 100 men armed with pistols, automatic weapons, grenades and rocket launchers. Bribes Two former partners of Guzman testified that he paid millions of dollars in bribes to senior officials of the Mexican government to hunt down rivals, expand his business, and dodge the authorities and police at all levels -and even within Interpol. His attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said Guzman also bribed two Mexican presidents - Enrique Pena Nieto and Felipe Calderon - but they denied this. 'Chupeta' With his face disfigured by repeated rounds of plastic surgery to conceal his identity, Juan Carlos "Chupeta" Ramirez, a former boss of a Colombian drug cartel, testified that with help from Guzman, he smuggled more than 400 tons of cocaine to the US from 1989 until his own arrest in 2007. Ramirez, who said he had ordered the death of some 150 people and was one of Guzman's main cocaine suppliers, said he did business with the latter - paying him with drugs - because he managed to get the merchandise to the US "very quickly." A steep price markup El Chapo's accountant, Jesus Zambada, told the jury how El Chapo purchased Colombian cocaine for $3,000 a kilo and then sold it in New York for $35,000 a kilo. All the drugs, an average of 80 to 100 tons a year, were sent to the United States, he said. Compromising recordings With the help of Christian Rodriguez, a Colombian who was El Chapo's communications chief, US government agents intercepted some 200 conversations between the cartel boss and his associates, hired killers, and corrupt Mexican officials. Investigators also intercepted encrypted messages between El Chapo and others, sent on Blackberries that the trafficker used to spy on his associates and his mistresses. In one message read to the jury, El Chapo speaks with associate and a former mistress known as "la Fiera" about setting up dummy corporations in Germany and Ecuador in order to export drugs "to Europe, to Canada, to Australia and to the United States." They also discuss the purchase in Belize of 700 kilograms (1,540 pounds) of cocaine. Airplanes full of dollars El Chapo's former pilot and business manager, Miguel Angel "Gordo" Martinez, testified that the cartel boss would sometimes receive as many as three cash-filled airplanes from the United States in a single day. Each plane carried "eight to 10 million dollars," he said. He also told how El Chapo worked with Colombian suppliers to finance deliveries of up to 14 tons of cocaine -- transported by boat to international waters off Mexico, where Colombian crews would hand over the drugs to El Chapo's employees. Martinez estimated that from 1990 to 1993, El Chapo thus imported 25 to 30 tons of cocaine into Mexico each year. The lover A former lover and partner of Guzman, Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez, testified in the presence of his wife, Emma Coronel, that one night in 2014, the two came close to being captured by Mexican marines and escaped through a tunnel built under a bathtub in a house in Culiacan state. She said Guzman was totally naked as he ran ahead of her and left her behind.

El Chapo's trial gives Rare glimpse inside the drug world

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/drug-lord-el-chapo-given-life-sentence-by-us-judge-236721">Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman</a> is Mexico's most notorious kingpin who shipped tonnes of drugs around the world, escaped two maximum-security jails and became one of the world's most-wanted fugitives.

He was given a life sentence by a US judge on Wednesday.

Guzman, 62, was found guilty by a jury in February of trafficking tons of cocaine, heroin and marijuana and engaging in multiple murder conspiracies as a top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, long known as one of Mexico's largest and most violent drug trafficking organisations.

The audacious exploits of El Chapo, or Shorty, captured the world's imagination and turned him into a folk hero for some in Mexico, despite the thousands of people killed by his brutal Sinaloa cartel.

Beyond putting Guzman's personal life and drug dealings on public display, the case has also highlighted Mexico's long-time fight to bring down its chief adversary in the bloody war on drug trafficking.

In January 2016, after some three decades running drugs, Guzman was caught in his native northwestern state of Sinaloa.

Six months earlier, he had humiliated Mexico's then-president, Enrique Pena Nieto, by escaping from prison through a mile-long tunnel dug straight into his cell - his second time escaping a Mexican jail.

Just days after his 2016 capture, Guzman's larger-than-life reputation was sealed when US movie star Sean Penn published a lengthy account of an interview he conducted with the drug lord, which the Mexican government said was "essential" to his capture a few months later.

"I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world. I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats," Penn said Guzman told him at the drug lord's mountain hideout.

Mexico's government extradited Guzman in January 2017, a day before Donald Trump took office as US president on vows to tighten border security to halt immigration and drug smuggling.

Guzman's legendary reputation in the Mexican underworld began to take shape when he staged his first jailbreak in 2001 by bribing prison guards, before going on to dominate drug trafficking along much of the Rio Grande.

However, many in towns across Mexico remember Guzman better for his squads of hitmen who committed thousands of murders, kidnappings and decapitations.

Violence began to surge in 2006 as the government launched a war on drug trafficking that caused criminal groups to splinter and killings to spiral.

Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel went on smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine, marijuana, and crystal meth across Mexico's border with the United States. 
In February 2013, the Chicago Crime Commission dubbed him the city's first Public Enemy Number 1 since Al Capone.

Elusive Kingpin 
&nbsp; 
Security experts concede the 5 foot 6 inch gangster was exceptional at what he did - managing to outmaneuver, outfight or outbribe his rivals to stay at the top of the drug trade for over a decade.

&nbsp;Rising through the ranks of the drug world, Guzman carefully observed his mentors' tactics and mistakes, forging alliances that kept him one step ahead of the law for years.

Mexican soldiers and US agents came close to Guzman on several occasions but his layers of body guards and spies always tipped him off before they stormed his safe houses.

Sinaloa Roots

Guzman was born in La Tuna, a village in the Sierra Madre mountains in Sinaloa state where smugglers have been growing opium and marijuana since the early twentieth century.

He ascended in the 1980s working with Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, alias "The Boss of Bosses", who pioneered cocaine smuggling routes into the United States.

The aspiring capo came to prominence in 1993 when assassins who shot dead Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas claimed they had actually been aiming at Guzman.

Two weeks later, police arrested him in Guatemala and extradited him to Mexico. During his eight-year prison stay, Guzman smuggled in lovers, prostitutes and Viagra, according to accounts published in the Mexican media.

After escaping, Guzman expanded his turf by sending in assassin squads with names such as "The Ghosts" and "The Zeta Killers", in reference to the rival Zetas gang.

Guzman hid near his childhood home, agents said, but rumours abounded of him visiting expensive restaurants and paying for all the diners.

In 2007, Guzman married an 18-year-old beauty queen in an ostentatious ceremony in a village in Durango state.

The state's archbishop subsequently caused a media storm when he said that "everyone, except the authorities", knew Guzman was living there. Guzman's bride, Emma Coronel, gave birth to twins in Los Angeles in 2011. She attended nearly every day of her husband's trial, at one point donning a red blazer that matched his own.

Waging war 
&nbsp; 
Between 2004 and 2013, Guzman's gangs fought in all major Mexican cities on the US border, turning Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo into some of the world's most dangerous places.

In one such attack, 14 bodies were left mutilated under a note that read, "Don't forget that I am your real daddy", signed by "El Chapo".

Guzman's Sinaloa cartel often clashed with the Zetas, a gang founded by former Mexican soldiers, arming its crew with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns.

In 2008, hitmen working for a rival murdered Guzman's son Edgar, a 22-year-old student. Guzman reportedly left 50,000 flowers at his son's grave.

In the 1990s, Guzman became infamous for hiding seven tons of cocaine in cans of chili peppers. In the following decade, his crew took drugs in tractor trailers to major US cities including Phoenix, Los Angeles and Chicago, indictments say.

Forbes magazine put the kingpin's wealth at $1 billion, though investigators say it is impossible to know exactly how much he was worth.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is Mexico's most notorious kingpin who shipped tonnes of drugs around the world, escaped two maximum-security jails and became one of the world's most-wanted fugitives.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is Mexico's most notorious kingpin who shipped tonnes of drugs around the world, escaped two maximum-security jails and became one of the world's most-wanted fugitives. He was given a life sentence by a US judge on Wednesday. Guzman, 62, was found guilty by a jury in February of trafficking tons of cocaine, heroin and marijuana and engaging in multiple murder conspiracies as a top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, long known as one of Mexico's largest and most violent drug trafficking organisations. The audacious exploits of El Chapo, or Shorty, captured the world's imagination and turned him into a folk hero for some in Mexico, despite the thousands of people killed by his brutal Sinaloa cartel. Beyond putting Guzman's personal life and drug dealings on public display, the case has also highlighted Mexico's long-time fight to bring down its chief adversary in the bloody war on drug trafficking. In January 2016, after some three decades running drugs, Guzman was caught in his native northwestern state of Sinaloa. Six months earlier, he had humiliated Mexico's then-president, Enrique Pena Nieto, by escaping from prison through a mile-long tunnel dug straight into his cell - his second time escaping a Mexican jail. Just days after his 2016 capture, Guzman's larger-than-life reputation was sealed when US movie star Sean Penn published a lengthy account of an interview he conducted with the drug lord, which the Mexican government said was "essential" to his capture a few months later. "I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world. I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats," Penn said Guzman told him at the drug lord's mountain hideout. Mexico's government extradited Guzman in January 2017, a day before Donald Trump took office as US president on vows to tighten border security to halt immigration and drug smuggling. Guzman's legendary reputation in the Mexican underworld began to take shape when he staged his first jailbreak in 2001 by bribing prison guards, before going on to dominate drug trafficking along much of the Rio Grande. However, many in towns across Mexico remember Guzman better for his squads of hitmen who committed thousands of murders, kidnappings and decapitations. Violence began to surge in 2006 as the government launched a war on drug trafficking that caused criminal groups to splinter and killings to spiral. Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel went on smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine, marijuana, and crystal meth across Mexico's border with the United States. In February 2013, the Chicago Crime Commission dubbed him the city's first Public Enemy Number 1 since Al Capone. Elusive Kingpin Security experts concede the 5 foot 6 inch gangster was exceptional at what he did - managing to outmaneuver, outfight or outbribe his rivals to stay at the top of the drug trade for over a decade. Rising through the ranks of the drug world, Guzman carefully observed his mentors' tactics and mistakes, forging alliances that kept him one step ahead of the law for years. Mexican soldiers and US agents came close to Guzman on several occasions but his layers of body guards and spies always tipped him off before they stormed his safe houses. Sinaloa Roots Guzman was born in La Tuna, a village in the Sierra Madre mountains in Sinaloa state where smugglers have been growing opium and marijuana since the early twentieth century. He ascended in the 1980s working with Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, alias "The Boss of Bosses", who pioneered cocaine smuggling routes into the United States. The aspiring capo came to prominence in 1993 when assassins who shot dead Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas claimed they had actually been aiming at Guzman. Two weeks later, police arrested him in Guatemala and extradited him to Mexico. During his eight-year prison stay, Guzman smuggled in lovers, prostitutes and Viagra, according to accounts published in the Mexican media. After escaping, Guzman expanded his turf by sending in assassin squads with names such as "The Ghosts" and "The Zeta Killers", in reference to the rival Zetas gang. Guzman hid near his childhood home, agents said, but rumours abounded of him visiting expensive restaurants and paying for all the diners. In 2007, Guzman married an 18-year-old beauty queen in an ostentatious ceremony in a village in Durango state. The state's archbishop subsequently caused a media storm when he said that "everyone, except the authorities", knew Guzman was living there. Guzman's bride, Emma Coronel, gave birth to twins in Los Angeles in 2011. She attended nearly every day of her husband's trial, at one point donning a red blazer that matched his own. Waging war Between 2004 and 2013, Guzman's gangs fought in all major Mexican cities on the US border, turning Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo into some of the world's most dangerous places. In one such attack, 14 bodies were left mutilated under a note that read, "Don't forget that I am your real daddy", signed by "El Chapo". Guzman's Sinaloa cartel often clashed with the Zetas, a gang founded by former Mexican soldiers, arming its crew with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns. In 2008, hitmen working for a rival murdered Guzman's son Edgar, a 22-year-old student. Guzman reportedly left 50,000 flowers at his son's grave. In the 1990s, Guzman became infamous for hiding seven tons of cocaine in cans of chili peppers. In the following decade, his crew took drugs in tractor trailers to major US cities including Phoenix, Los Angeles and Chicago, indictments say. Forbes magazine put the kingpin's wealth at $1 billion, though investigators say it is impossible to know exactly how much he was worth.

The rise and fall of 'El Chapo', Mexico's most wanted kingpin

The Trump administration moved on Monday to declare most migrants who cross the<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/as-migrants-wait-in-fear-no-sign-of-large-scale-us-raids-236016"> US southern border after </a>passing through Mexico ineligible for asylum.

A new rule redefining asylum eligibility - to take effect on Tuesday - is the latest attempt to stem the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mike-pence-visits-overcrowded-bad-smelling-facility-for-detained-migrants-in-texas-235432">flow of undocumented migrants</a> into the country, and comes amid White House frustration at Congress's failure to toughen immigration laws.

"The United States is a generous country but is being completely overwhelmed by the burdens associated with apprehending and processing hundreds of thousands of aliens along the southern border," Attorney General Bill Barr said in a statement.

"This rule will decrease forum shopping by economic migrants and those who seek to exploit our asylum system to obtain entry to the United States," Barr added.

The White House's new rule targets the recent stream of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Central America and other countries who have tried to cross into the United States from Mexico and request asylum to gain a foothold inside the country.

These requests - increasingly made by families claiming to flee endemic violence and poverty in their countries - allow the applicants to remain in the United States and to move around freely while their cases are adjudicated, which can take two years.

Many disappear into the country and never appear in court for their hearings, immigration officials say.

The new rule declares any migrant who enters the United States from the southern border and who have not asked for asylum protection in any of the countries they cross to get to the United States ineligible for asylum.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said the move, labelled an "interim rule" in lieu of action by Congress, was necessary because previous efforts to change immigration laws to stem the flow of migrants had proven inadequate.

"Until Congress can act, this interim rule will help reduce a major 'pull' factor driving irregular migration to the United States... leading to fewer individuals transiting through Mexico on a dangerous journey," McAleenan said.

The rule includes exceptions for people who can demonstrate they are victims of torture or persecution.

But US immigration officials have made clear they consider most of the recent migrants from Central America to be economic migrants, and thus not qualified for asylum.

The rule could quickly run into legal challenges that have repeatedly stymied the White House's efforts to slow the number of migrants entering the country without documentation.

The number of border-crossers detained by the US Border Patrol surged to a 13-year high of more than 144,000 in May before easing to 104,000 in June - still up 142 per cent from a year earlier.

Most are families from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

But increasingly migrants from other countries, including rising numbers from South Asia and Africa, are taking the same route through Mexico to the US southern border.

And meanwhile, the large numbers of migrants crossing the US border has overwhelmed the capacity of officials to house and care for them, with many, including children, being held in squalid conditions for weeks as they await processing.

The Trump administration has pressured Mexico and Guatemala, on Mexico's southern border, to accept migrants' asylum requests in their countries but both have resisted.

On Sunday, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales cancelled a planned trip to Washington to discuss and possibly seal a deal making Guatemala a "safe third country" for asylum requests.

Later on Sunday, the country's constitutional court imposed an injunction on Morales sealing any deal, saying it first needed the approval of lawmakers, some of whom say it would make their country a dumping ground for migrants heading to the US.

Former foreign minister Edgar Gutierrez told the daily El Periodico that the deal would have made Guatemala, one of the region's poorest countries, "the biggest concentration camp in history."

The Trump administration moved on Monday to declare most migrants who cross the US southern border after passing through Mexico ineligible for asylum. A new rule redefining asylum eligibility - to take effect on Tuesday - is the latest attempt to stem the flow of undocumented migrants into the country, and comes amid White House frustration at Congress's failure to toughen immigration laws.

The Trump administration moved on Monday to declare most migrants who cross the US southern border after passing through Mexico ineligible for asylum. A new rule redefining asylum eligibility - to take effect on Tuesday - is the latest attempt to stem the flow of undocumented migrants into the country, and comes amid White House frustration at Congress's failure to toughen immigration laws. "The United States is a generous country but is being completely overwhelmed by the burdens associated with apprehending and processing hundreds of thousands of aliens along the southern border," Attorney General Bill Barr said in a statement. "This rule will decrease forum shopping by economic migrants and those who seek to exploit our asylum system to obtain entry to the United States," Barr added. The White House's new rule targets the recent stream of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Central America and other countries who have tried to cross into the United States from Mexico and request asylum to gain a foothold inside the country. These requests - increasingly made by families claiming to flee endemic violence and poverty in their countries - allow the applicants to remain in the United States and to move around freely while their cases are adjudicated, which can take two years. Many disappear into the country and never appear in court for their hearings, immigration officials say. The new rule declares any migrant who enters the United States from the southern border and who have not asked for asylum protection in any of the countries they cross to get to the United States ineligible for asylum. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said the move, labelled an "interim rule" in lieu of action by Congress, was necessary because previous efforts to change immigration laws to stem the flow of migrants had proven inadequate. "Until Congress can act, this interim rule will help reduce a major 'pull' factor driving irregular migration to the United States... leading to fewer individuals transiting through Mexico on a dangerous journey," McAleenan said. The rule includes exceptions for people who can demonstrate they are victims of torture or persecution. But US immigration officials have made clear they consider most of the recent migrants from Central America to be economic migrants, and thus not qualified for asylum. The rule could quickly run into legal challenges that have repeatedly stymied the White House's efforts to slow the number of migrants entering the country without documentation. The number of border-crossers detained by the US Border Patrol surged to a 13-year high of more than 144,000 in May before easing to 104,000 in June - still up 142 per cent from a year earlier. Most are families from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. But increasingly migrants from other countries, including rising numbers from South Asia and Africa, are taking the same route through Mexico to the US southern border. And meanwhile, the large numbers of migrants crossing the US border has overwhelmed the capacity of officials to house and care for them, with many, including children, being held in squalid conditions for weeks as they await processing. The Trump administration has pressured Mexico and Guatemala, on Mexico's southern border, to accept migrants' asylum requests in their countries but both have resisted. On Sunday, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales cancelled a planned trip to Washington to discuss and possibly seal a deal making Guatemala a "safe third country" for asylum requests. Later on Sunday, the country's constitutional court imposed an injunction on Morales sealing any deal, saying it first needed the approval of lawmakers, some of whom say it would make their country a dumping ground for migrants heading to the US. Former foreign minister Edgar Gutierrez told the daily El Periodico that the deal would have made Guatemala, one of the region's poorest countries, "the biggest concentration camp in history."

Trump administration moves to block asylum for migrants entering US from Mexico

A Guatemalan asylum seeker left members of U.S. House panel visibly shaken with the story of her daughter's death, saying the toddler had contracted a deadly lung infection during a 20-day detention near the U.S. border with Mexico. Watch this video to know more.

Guatemalan migrant: Life is difficult without my child

At the<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/in-blow-to-mexican-president-finance-minister-quits-over-economic-extremism-234645"> heart of former finance minister</a>, Carlos Urzua's abrupt exit from the Mexican government was a dispute with President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/mexico-is-bleeding-can-its-new-president-stop-the-violence-193818">Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's</a> chief of staff, a millionaire who has placed business associates in influential government posts.

The friction with biotech businessman Alfonso Romo was among the differences that led to Urzua's departure, Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday.

Respected economist Urzua wrote a blistering resignation letter on Tuesday, accusing unnamed influential figures in government with conflicts of interest of straying into the finance ministry's territory.

Lopez Obrador said the disagreements between Urzua and Romo were "notorious" inside the cabinet after he gave Romo responsibilities over the merger of two state-run development banks usually overseen by the finance ministry. A close associate of Romo was named to run the banks.

"I asked Alfonso Romo to help in the coordination of the development banks, and there was disagreement over that," Lopez Obrador said at a regular news conference.

Urzua did not discuss the issue of the banks or mention Romo in his resignation letter. Romo, who has yet to comment publicly, has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Urzua's resignation brings into the public eye deep differences over what constitutes conflicts of interest in the government, which Lopez Obrador says is ending the country's infamous levels of high-level corruption and cronyism in politics.

The Mexican government should investigate the allegations in Urzua's letter, said Rodrigo Montes de Oca, a research scholar at the Houston-based Baker Institute Mexico Center.

"The simple appointment (of a friend) does not generate a conflict of interest," Montes de Oca said. "The conflict of interest would arise if the appointment is made to obtain a benefit in the future."

In Charge of Banks

The administration of Lopez Obrador put Eugenio Najera in charge of the two state banks in December.&nbsp;

Najera was a board member or special adviser in several of Romo's businesses from the 1990s onwards, according to his biography on the government website and SEC filings, including in Vector Casa de Bolsa, a brokerage that is part of a company Romo founded.&nbsp;

Romo used Vector's offices as a base during the 2018 election campaign.

Najera then worked with Romo after the July election that swept Lopez Obrador to power, focusing on an industrial and technological development plan for the administration, according to a government statement in December announcing his appointment to run the banks.

Najera's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Urzua did not respond to requests for more details about the contents of his resignation letter.

Lopez Obrador said at the news conference that Urzua had opposed the appointment of Najera.

He said such ties did not represent a conflict of interest, however. The state banks had not given loans to relatives of government officials or their businesses, he said.

"I don't see any conflict of interest, but if that was one of his disagreements, I respect his point of view. I don't share it," Lopez Obrador said, adding that he personally "kept an eye" on everyone, including his family, to avoid abuse of power.

Amid its push to curb corruption, Mexico has stepped up rules around conflicts of interest. Mexican law requires public servants to speak up when they have a conflict and recuse themselves if necessary, legal experts say.

Romo resigned from the boards of several companies before the government took office on Dec. 1, including Vector. His brother is still listed on the Vector website as a board member. Vector did not immediately respond to a question about whether he retains a financial interest.

In an interview with Reuters last year, Romo said he would step down from his government post before he would sell any ventures.

An equestrian who competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, Romo looks to have emerged strengthened from the contest with Urzua, with the backing of the president and less obstruction in the finance ministry to carry out his plans.

Lopez Obrador said it was normal for there to be differences within a government that was pushing big changes in the economy. In a video message on Tuesday, he said Urzua was not comfortable with decisions being taken to up end what the president frequently calls the neoliberal era in Mexico, starting in the 1980s.

Following Urzua's resignation, Lopez Obrador quickly names the&nbsp;well-regarded deputy finance minister Arturo Herrera to replace him.

At the heart of former finance minister, Carlos Urzua's abrupt exit from the Mexican government was a dispute with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's chief of staff, a millionaire who has placed business associates in influential government posts.

At the heart of former finance minister, Carlos Urzua's abrupt exit from the Mexican government was a dispute with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's chief of staff, a millionaire who has placed business associates in influential government posts. The friction with biotech businessman Alfonso Romo was among the differences that led to Urzua's departure, Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday. Respected economist Urzua wrote a blistering resignation letter on Tuesday, accusing unnamed influential figures in government with conflicts of interest of straying into the finance ministry's territory. Lopez Obrador said the disagreements between Urzua and Romo were "notorious" inside the cabinet after he gave Romo responsibilities over the merger of two state-run development banks usually overseen by the finance ministry. A close associate of Romo was named to run the banks. "I asked Alfonso Romo to help in the coordination of the development banks, and there was disagreement over that," Lopez Obrador said at a regular news conference. Urzua did not discuss the issue of the banks or mention Romo in his resignation letter. Romo, who has yet to comment publicly, has not been accused of wrongdoing. Urzua's resignation brings into the public eye deep differences over what constitutes conflicts of interest in the government, which Lopez Obrador says is ending the country's infamous levels of high-level corruption and cronyism in politics. The Mexican government should investigate the allegations in Urzua's letter, said Rodrigo Montes de Oca, a research scholar at the Houston-based Baker Institute Mexico Center. "The simple appointment (of a friend) does not generate a conflict of interest," Montes de Oca said. "The conflict of interest would arise if the appointment is made to obtain a benefit in the future." In Charge of Banks The administration of Lopez Obrador put Eugenio Najera in charge of the two state banks in December. Najera was a board member or special adviser in several of Romo's businesses from the 1990s onwards, according to his biography on the government website and SEC filings, including in Vector Casa de Bolsa, a brokerage that is part of a company Romo founded. Romo used Vector's offices as a base during the 2018 election campaign. Najera then worked with Romo after the July election that swept Lopez Obrador to power, focusing on an industrial and technological development plan for the administration, according to a government statement in December announcing his appointment to run the banks. Najera's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Urzua did not respond to requests for more details about the contents of his resignation letter. Lopez Obrador said at the news conference that Urzua had opposed the appointment of Najera. He said such ties did not represent a conflict of interest, however. The state banks had not given loans to relatives of government officials or their businesses, he said. "I don't see any conflict of interest, but if that was one of his disagreements, I respect his point of view. I don't share it," Lopez Obrador said, adding that he personally "kept an eye" on everyone, including his family, to avoid abuse of power. Amid its push to curb corruption, Mexico has stepped up rules around conflicts of interest. Mexican law requires public servants to speak up when they have a conflict and recuse themselves if necessary, legal experts say. Romo resigned from the boards of several companies before the government took office on Dec. 1, including Vector. His brother is still listed on the Vector website as a board member. Vector did not immediately respond to a question about whether he retains a financial interest. In an interview with Reuters last year, Romo said he would step down from his government post before he would sell any ventures. An equestrian who competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, Romo looks to have emerged strengthened from the contest with Urzua, with the backing of the president and less obstruction in the finance ministry to carry out his plans. Lopez Obrador said it was normal for there to be differences within a government that was pushing big changes in the economy. In a video message on Tuesday, he said Urzua was not comfortable with decisions being taken to up end what the president frequently calls the neoliberal era in Mexico, starting in the 1980s. Following Urzua's resignation, Lopez Obrador quickly names the well-regarded deputy finance minister Arturo Herrera to replace him.

As Mexico finance minister departs, tycoon's role in government raises questions

A storm churning in the Gulf of Mexico and aimed at water-logged <a href="New Orleans">New Orleans is likely to make landfall as the first Atlantic hurricane</a> of the 2019 season by late Friday or early Saturday, forecasters said.

The storm, expected to be designated a tropical storm early on Thursday, is set to deposit between 10 to 15 inches of rain on the Gulf Coast on Friday and Saturday from West Texas, through New Orleans and the Louisiana coast.

Isolated spots will receive a drenching 20 inches of rain,

"The whole area is in for a soaking, the worst of it on Saturday," said David Roth, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.

"The storm system will likely produce storm surge, hurricane-force winds," he said at a news conference. "No one should take this storm lightly."

National Guard troops were in place across the state, the governor said.

US oil producers on Wednesday cut nearly a third of Gulf of Mexico crude output ahead of the storm.

Fifteen production platforms and four rigs were evacuated in the north-central Gulf of Mexico, according to a US regulator as oil firms moved workers to safety.

The slow-moving storm, crawling at about 9 mph early on Thursday and gaining strength from warm Gulf waters, will be named Barry if it strengthens into a tropical storm with winds of 39 mph or more on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale.

It will become Hurricane Barry if it reaches wind speeds of 74 mph (119 km) as expected when it makes landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River and just west of New Orleans.

But the storm remained a tropical disturbance early on Thursday about 125 miles (200 km) south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and packed sustained winds of 30 mph (45 km), the National Hurricane Center said.

New Orleans was already hit with widespread flooding on Wednesday from heavy rain spawned from a weather system that might inundate the low-lying US city.

New Orleans officials warned that a hurricane could bring a coastal storm surge into the mouth of the Mississippi River capable of raising the river's height to 20 feet (6 meters) above sea level, high enough to overflow some sections of the levee system protecting the city.

The city was hit early Wednesday by thunderstorms that meteorologists said were associated with the building Gulf storm.

New Orleans officials advised residents to stock up on drinking water, non-perishable food, and other emergency supplies.

Officials in Plaquemines Parish, south of New Orleans, ordered residents in some areas to plan to evacuate their homes on Thursday ahead of the storm.

And west of New Orleans, officials in Vermilion Parish advised some residents in low-lying areas and people living in mobile homes to consider moving to higher ground.

A storm churning in the Gulf of Mexico and aimed at water-logged New Orleans is likely to make landfall as the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2019 season by late Friday or early Saturday, forecasters said.

A storm churning in the Gulf of Mexico and aimed at water-logged New Orleans is likely to make landfall as the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2019 season by late Friday or early Saturday, forecasters said. The storm, expected to be designated a tropical storm early on Thursday, is set to deposit between 10 to 15 inches of rain on the Gulf Coast on Friday and Saturday from West Texas, through New Orleans and the Louisiana coast. Isolated spots will receive a drenching 20 inches of rain, "The whole area is in for a soaking, the worst of it on Saturday," said David Roth, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency on Wednesday. "The storm system will likely produce storm surge, hurricane-force winds," he said at a news conference. "No one should take this storm lightly." National Guard troops were in place across the state, the governor said. US oil producers on Wednesday cut nearly a third of Gulf of Mexico crude output ahead of the storm. Fifteen production platforms and four rigs were evacuated in the north-central Gulf of Mexico, according to a US regulator as oil firms moved workers to safety. The slow-moving storm, crawling at about 9 mph early on Thursday and gaining strength from warm Gulf waters, will be named Barry if it strengthens into a tropical storm with winds of 39 mph or more on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale. It will become Hurricane Barry if it reaches wind speeds of 74 mph (119 km) as expected when it makes landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River and just west of New Orleans. But the storm remained a tropical disturbance early on Thursday about 125 miles (200 km) south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and packed sustained winds of 30 mph (45 km), the National Hurricane Center said. New Orleans was already hit with widespread flooding on Wednesday from heavy rain spawned from a weather system that might inundate the low-lying US city. New Orleans officials warned that a hurricane could bring a coastal storm surge into the mouth of the Mississippi River capable of raising the river's height to 20 feet (6 meters) above sea level, high enough to overflow some sections of the levee system protecting the city. The city was hit early Wednesday by thunderstorms that meteorologists said were associated with the building Gulf storm. New Orleans officials advised residents to stock up on drinking water, non-perishable food, and other emergency supplies. Officials in Plaquemines Parish, south of New Orleans, ordered residents in some areas to plan to evacuate their homes on Thursday ahead of the storm. And west of New Orleans, officials in Vermilion Parish advised some residents in low-lying areas and people living in mobile homes to consider moving to higher ground.

Storm likely to churn into hurricane, looms on United States Gulf coast

Oil prices rose 4.5 per cent a barrel on Wednesday to their highest level in more than a month after <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/oil-falls-on-trade-dispute-despite-surprise-drop-in-us-crude-inventories-217140">US crude inventories</a> shrank and as major producers cut nearly a third of offshore Gulf of Mexico production ahead of an expected storm.

Brent crude futures settled at $67.01 a barrel, up $2.85, or 4.44 percent. US <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/crude-oil-prices-fall-1-on-fears-for-global-economy-233148">West Texas Intermediate</a> (WTI) crude futures settled at $60.43 a barrel, climbing $2.60, or 4.50 percent.

Both benchmarks hit their highest prices since late-May.

US crude stocks fell 9.5 million barrels in the week to July 5, shrinking more than triple the 3.1 million-barrel draw analysts had expected as refineries ramped up output, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

"The inventory draw was much stronger than expected," which helped to push oil prices higher, said Carsten Fritsch, oil analyst at Commerzbank. "Imports dropped and refinery utilization reached the highest level since the beginning of the year, contributing to the big draw."

A storm expected to form along the Gulf of Mexico also helped oil prices.

Major oil firms began evacuating and halting production in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the storm, which is forecast to become a hurricane by the weekend.

"With the evacuation of several platforms in the Gulf of Mexico in advance of a tropical storm, that will curb production," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.

Chevron Corp, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Anadarko Petroleum and BHP Group &nbsp;were in the process of removing staff from 15 offshore platforms. Exxon Mobil &nbsp;said it was monitoring the weather to determine if its facilities might be affected.

The Gulf of Mexico is home to 17 per cent of US crude oil output which stands at around 12 million barrels per day.

The US and global benchmarks have gained this year as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and big producers such as Russia have curbed output to bolster prices.

The alliance, known as OPEC+, agreed last week to extend its supply-cutting deal until March 2020.

Tensions around Iran's nuclear programme and recent incidents involving oil tankers in the Gulf have also supported prices.

"The ongoing geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran continue to add a still unquantifiable level of support," said Saxo Bank commodity strategist Ole Hansen.

A top US general said on Tuesday that Washington hopes to enlist allies over the next two weeks or so in a military coalition to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen, where the United States blames Iran and Iran-aligned fighters for attacks.

Oil prices rose 4.5 per cent a barrel on Wednesday to their highest level in more than a month after US crude inventories shrank and as major producers cut nearly a third of offshore Gulf of Mexico production ahead of an expected storm.

Oil prices rose 4.5 per cent a barrel on Wednesday to their highest level in more than a month after US crude inventories shrank and as major producers cut nearly a third of offshore Gulf of Mexico production ahead of an expected storm. Brent crude futures settled at $67.01 a barrel, up $2.85, or 4.44 percent. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at $60.43 a barrel, climbing $2.60, or 4.50 percent. Both benchmarks hit their highest prices since late-May. US crude stocks fell 9.5 million barrels in the week to July 5, shrinking more than triple the 3.1 million-barrel draw analysts had expected as refineries ramped up output, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said. "The inventory draw was much stronger than expected," which helped to push oil prices higher, said Carsten Fritsch, oil analyst at Commerzbank. "Imports dropped and refinery utilization reached the highest level since the beginning of the year, contributing to the big draw." A storm expected to form along the Gulf of Mexico also helped oil prices. Major oil firms began evacuating and halting production in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the storm, which is forecast to become a hurricane by the weekend. "With the evacuation of several platforms in the Gulf of Mexico in advance of a tropical storm, that will curb production," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. Chevron Corp, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Anadarko Petroleum and BHP Group were in the process of removing staff from 15 offshore platforms. Exxon Mobil said it was monitoring the weather to determine if its facilities might be affected. The Gulf of Mexico is home to 17 per cent of US crude oil output which stands at around 12 million barrels per day. The US and global benchmarks have gained this year as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and big producers such as Russia have curbed output to bolster prices. The alliance, known as OPEC+, agreed last week to extend its supply-cutting deal until March 2020. Tensions around Iran's nuclear programme and recent incidents involving oil tankers in the Gulf have also supported prices. "The ongoing geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran continue to add a still unquantifiable level of support," said Saxo Bank commodity strategist Ole Hansen. A top US general said on Tuesday that Washington hopes to enlist allies over the next two weeks or so in a military coalition to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen, where the United States blames Iran and Iran-aligned fighters for attacks.

Oil prices jump 4.5 per cent on United States crude stocks draw, Gulf of Mexico storm

A Guatemalan asylum seeker left some members of a US House panel visibly shaken on Wednesday with the story of her daughter's death, saying the toddler had contracted a deadly lung infection during 20-day detention near the US border with <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-eyes-brazil-for-us-asylum-deal-trump-revives-tariff-threat-226124">Mexico</a>.

Yazmin Juarez told a House of Representatives subcommittee that it was "like they tore out a piece of my heart" when just weeks after they were released her daughter Mariee died at 19 months old.

She said she left a hospital with nothing but a piece of paper with two handprints in pink paint that staff had made for her, and described through a translator how she missed her daughter's hugs.

Juarez said it was hard to relive the experience, but wanted to shed light on the lack of medical care. "The world should know," she said.

"It can’t be so hard for a country like the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/united-nation-rights-chief-shocked-by-conditions-at-us-migrant-detention-centres-234083">United States</a> to protect kids who are locked up.

Guatemalan migrant: Life is difficult without my child

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/guatemalan-migrant-life-is-difficult-without-my-child-234883/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Juarez testified at the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that was examining the treatment of refugees in US detention.

Apprehensions along the border have spiked to the highest in at least a decade, driven by families from Central America who say they are seeking asylum and fleeing violence in their home countries.

Images of filthy detention facilities jammed with refugees have sparked widespread criticism. On Monday UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said she was "appalled" that migrant children were forced to sleep on floors.

President Donald Trump's tough stance on immigration has been one of his signature policies. "If Illegal Immigrants are unhappy with the conditions in the quickly built or refitted detentions centers, just tell them not to come," Trump wrote on Twitter last week.

Juarez told members of Congress, several of whom appeared shaken by her testimony, that her daughter was healthy when the pair were initially detained. They were held with 30 others, including sick children whom Juarez said could have infected her daughter.

Juarez said that she and her daughter fled violence in Guatemala for a better life.

“Unfortunately, that did not happen,” Juarez said.

Several members of the subcommittee including New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hugged Juarez after she spoke.

"No hay palabras, there are no words," said Chip Roy of Texas, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee.

He blamed Democrats for the border crowding.

"The blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to actually address this," he said.

The hearing came as a senior US Customs and Border Protection official told reporters that border agents were detaining only about 200 unaccompanied children at locations in the Southwest as of Wednesday, down from more than 2,500 in May. The reduction reflects funding increases that have enabled a federal health agency to expand its holding capacity.

A Guatemalan asylum seeker left some members of a US House panel visibly shaken on Wednesday with the story of her daughter's death, saying the toddler had contracted a deadly lung infection during 20-day detention near the US border with Mexico.

A Guatemalan asylum seeker left some members of a US House panel visibly shaken on Wednesday with the story of her daughter's death, saying the toddler had contracted a deadly lung infection during 20-day detention near the US border with Mexico. Yazmin Juarez told a House of Representatives subcommittee that it was "like they tore out a piece of my heart" when just weeks after they were released her daughter Mariee died at 19 months old. She said she left a hospital with nothing but a piece of paper with two handprints in pink paint that staff had made for her, and described through a translator how she missed her daughter's hugs. Juarez said it was hard to relive the experience, but wanted to shed light on the lack of medical care. "The world should know," she said. "It can’t be so hard for a country like the United States to protect kids who are locked up. Guatemalan migrant: Life is difficult without my child Juarez testified at the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that was examining the treatment of refugees in US detention. Apprehensions along the border have spiked to the highest in at least a decade, driven by families from Central America who say they are seeking asylum and fleeing violence in their home countries. Images of filthy detention facilities jammed with refugees have sparked widespread criticism. On Monday UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said she was "appalled" that migrant children were forced to sleep on floors. President Donald Trump's tough stance on immigration has been one of his signature policies. "If Illegal Immigrants are unhappy with the conditions in the quickly built or refitted detentions centers, just tell them not to come," Trump wrote on Twitter last week. Juarez told members of Congress, several of whom appeared shaken by her testimony, that her daughter was healthy when the pair were initially detained. They were held with 30 others, including sick children whom Juarez said could have infected her daughter. Juarez said that she and her daughter fled violence in Guatemala for a better life. “Unfortunately, that did not happen,” Juarez said. Several members of the subcommittee including New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hugged Juarez after she spoke. "No hay palabras, there are no words," said Chip Roy of Texas, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee. He blamed Democrats for the border crowding. "The blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to actually address this," he said. The hearing came as a senior US Customs and Border Protection official told reporters that border agents were detaining only about 200 unaccompanied children at locations in the Southwest as of Wednesday, down from more than 2,500 in May. The reduction reflects funding increases that have enabled a federal health agency to expand its holding capacity.

'World should know,' migrant tells US Congress of toddler's death

The iconic German car Volkswagen's Beetle will go out of production today after 82 years in existence after it was first designed by Austrian automotive giant ‎Ferdinand Porsche and presented to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in 1937.

The first Volkswagen Beetle&nbsp;was produced in 1937 in Stuttgart which was inaugurated by the German leader amid great fanfare.

The car envisaged as a "family car" for four members, never went into mass production in Germany due to disruption caused due to&nbsp;World War-II but finally saw the light of day in the late 1940s when it began production in Germany's Wolfsburg area and later spread across the country and then worldwide.

In the 1950s sales of the "superbug" soared in the US with the car's mesmeric appeal towards the "rebellious generation" in the US. The VW symbol symbolising freshness and youth captured the imagination of European and American youth who were jaded by the Vietnam war in the 1960s.

However, production and sales began taking a hit after Japanese cars - Toyota, Nissan, Honda including Ford and Opel began giving the VW Beetle stiff competition but the "Beetles generation" in the 1960s spearheaded by English rock band - The Beatles - comprising of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr made the brand a household name across the world.

In the 2000s facing stiff challenges, the car's production fell as demand began to collapse, even though it tried to sell in emerging markets in China and India however the magic had faded for the new generation powered by new cars and contemporary designs.

Beetle's Type 1 production was stopped in 2003 with new model failing&nbsp;to boost car&nbsp;numbers. The people living in Mexico's Cuautepec area&nbsp;which produced the modern version of the Beetle are now bracing for a shutdown after the car's long and fruitful run.

The iconic German car Volkswagen's Beetle will go out of production today after 82 years in existence after it was first designed by Austrian automotive giant ‎Ferdinand Porsche and presented to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in 1937.

The iconic German car Volkswagen's Beetle will go out of production today after 82 years in existence after it was first designed by Austrian automotive giant ‎Ferdinand Porsche and presented to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in 1937. The first Volkswagen Beetle was produced in 1937 in Stuttgart which was inaugurated by the German leader amid great fanfare. The car envisaged as a "family car" for four members, never went into mass production in Germany due to disruption caused due to World War-II but finally saw the light of day in the late 1940s when it began production in Germany's Wolfsburg area and later spread across the country and then worldwide. In the 1950s sales of the "superbug" soared in the US with the car's mesmeric appeal towards the "rebellious generation" in the US. The VW symbol symbolising freshness and youth captured the imagination of European and American youth who were jaded by the Vietnam war in the 1960s. However, production and sales began taking a hit after Japanese cars - Toyota, Nissan, Honda including Ford and Opel began giving the VW Beetle stiff competition but the "Beetles generation" in the 1960s spearheaded by English rock band - The Beatles - comprising of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr made the brand a household name across the world. In the 2000s facing stiff challenges, the car's production fell as demand began to collapse, even though it tried to sell in emerging markets in China and India however the magic had faded for the new generation powered by new cars and contemporary designs. Beetle's Type 1 production was stopped in 2003 with new model failing to boost car numbers. The people living in Mexico's Cuautepec area which produced the modern version of the Beetle are now bracing for a shutdown after the car's long and fruitful run.

1937-1919: Iconic Volkswagen Beetle car set to cease production

Mexico's moderate Finance Minister <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nafta-talks-on-track-mexicos-future-finance-minister-149302">Carlos Urzua</a> resigned on Tuesday with a letter that shocked markets by citing "extremism" in economic policy, before <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/state-elections-set-to-offer-relief-for-harried-mexican-president-223673">President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador </a>quickly named a well-regarded deputy minister to replace him.

In the unusually strongly worded resignation note made public on his Twitter account, Urzua said the government was forming economic policy without sufficient foundation.

"I'm convinced that economic policy should always be evidence-based, careful of potential impacts and free of extremism, either from the right or the left," Urzua wrote.

"These convictions did not resonate during my tenure in this administration," Urzua said.

He also said there were what he called conflicts of interest in the appointment of some ministry officials imposed on him by influential members of the government. He did not give more details.

The Mexican peso fell over 2% &lt;MXN=&gt; on the news and the benchmark stock index slid almost 1.5% &lt;.MXX&gt;. Both recovered a little after Lopez Obrador quickly promoted Deputy Finance Minister Arturo Herrera to the top job.

Well known to investors and seen as a competent economic manager, Herrera now has the task of reviving economic growth while meeting a 1 percent primary budget surplus, kickstarting flagging investment and fending off downgrades from rating agencies worried about indebted state-oil company Pemex.

"(Herrera) is a well-known figure with good dialogue with market participants and is not perceived as a ... dogmatic individual," said Alberto Ramos, head of Latin American research at Goldman Sachs.

"But in light of the unusual content of Urzua’s resignation letter there is out there the lingering question of who is ultimately in charge of running economic policy," Ramos said.

Academic Hawk

Urzua, a slightly disheveled former academic prone to mild verbal gaffes, was a very different finance minister from Mexico's recent tradition of slick technocrats who spoke the language of Wall Street.

However, he was seen by markets as a moderate whose commitment to fiscal discipline was a bright spot in the administration of Lopez Obrador, which has frequently buffeted markets with surprise policy decisions.

Before the government took office on Dec. 1, Urzua was tasked with meeting with dozens of investment funds to convey that the government was center-left, rather than a leftist.

On his watch, however, Urzua was hit by a sovereign debt downgrade and contracting economic growth as he stuck to fiscal targets while setting aside money to support Pemex and Lopez Obrador's plans to splurge on a new oil refinery.

A 64-year-old economist, Urzua is an old friend of the president and served as his finance minister when Lopez Obrador was Mexico City's mayor.

Urzua deeply cut back spending programs in a strategy aimed at cleaning out corruption and largesse with a new, more centralized model of assistance. He also began a program of centralizing procurement, in another drive for efficiency and clean government.

Both actions have been blamed for shortages in areas such as healthcare, where lack of medicines led to the high-profile resignation of the public health system chief earlier this year.

In a video message to announce his successor, Lopez Obrador said Urzua was not comfortable with the decisions being taken to upend what the president frequently calls the neoliberal era in Mexico, starting in the 1980s.

"We are committed to changing economic policy that has been imposed for the past 36 years," Lopez Obrador said. "We can't put old wine in new bottles."

"We believe there will be economic growth, that we will progress in the country by fighting corruption and ... with a policy of austerity," the president said.

Mexico's moderate Finance Minister Carlos Urzua resigned on Tuesday with a letter that shocked markets by citing "extremism" in economic policy, before President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador quickly named a well-regarded deputy minister to replace him.

Mexico's moderate Finance Minister Carlos Urzua resigned on Tuesday with a letter that shocked markets by citing "extremism" in economic policy, before President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador quickly named a well-regarded deputy minister to replace him. In the unusually strongly worded resignation note made public on his Twitter account, Urzua said the government was forming economic policy without sufficient foundation. "I'm convinced that economic policy should always be evidence-based, careful of potential impacts and free of extremism, either from the right or the left," Urzua wrote. "These convictions did not resonate during my tenure in this administration," Urzua said. He also said there were what he called conflicts of interest in the appointment of some ministry officials imposed on him by influential members of the government. He did not give more details. The Mexican peso fell over 2% <MXN=> on the news and the benchmark stock index slid almost 1.5% <.MXX>. Both recovered a little after Lopez Obrador quickly promoted Deputy Finance Minister Arturo Herrera to the top job. Well known to investors and seen as a competent economic manager, Herrera now has the task of reviving economic growth while meeting a 1 percent primary budget surplus, kickstarting flagging investment and fending off downgrades from rating agencies worried about indebted state-oil company Pemex. "(Herrera) is a well-known figure with good dialogue with market participants and is not perceived as a ... dogmatic individual," said Alberto Ramos, head of Latin American research at Goldman Sachs. "But in light of the unusual content of Urzua’s resignation letter there is out there the lingering question of who is ultimately in charge of running economic policy," Ramos said. Academic Hawk Urzua, a slightly disheveled former academic prone to mild verbal gaffes, was a very different finance minister from Mexico's recent tradition of slick technocrats who spoke the language of Wall Street. However, he was seen by markets as a moderate whose commitment to fiscal discipline was a bright spot in the administration of Lopez Obrador, which has frequently buffeted markets with surprise policy decisions. Before the government took office on Dec. 1, Urzua was tasked with meeting with dozens of investment funds to convey that the government was center-left, rather than a leftist. On his watch, however, Urzua was hit by a sovereign debt downgrade and contracting economic growth as he stuck to fiscal targets while setting aside money to support Pemex and Lopez Obrador's plans to splurge on a new oil refinery. A 64-year-old economist, Urzua is an old friend of the president and served as his finance minister when Lopez Obrador was Mexico City's mayor. Urzua deeply cut back spending programs in a strategy aimed at cleaning out corruption and largesse with a new, more centralized model of assistance. He also began a program of centralizing procurement, in another drive for efficiency and clean government. Both actions have been blamed for shortages in areas such as healthcare, where lack of medicines led to the high-profile resignation of the public health system chief earlier this year. In a video message to announce his successor, Lopez Obrador said Urzua was not comfortable with the decisions being taken to upend what the president frequently calls the neoliberal era in Mexico, starting in the 1980s. "We are committed to changing economic policy that has been imposed for the past 36 years," Lopez Obrador said. "We can't put old wine in new bottles." "We believe there will be economic growth, that we will progress in the country by fighting corruption and ... with a policy of austerity," the president said.

In blow to Mexican president, finance minister quits over economic 'extremism'

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Sunday formally <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-says-national-guard-deployment-to-southern-border-starts-on-wednesday-226694">inaugurated the National Guard</a>, a militarized police force aimed at cracking down on the country's growing crime rate and securing its borders.

Lopez Obrador said that the initial 70,000 members would be deployed to 150 regions across Mexico, and eventually, 150,000 personnel will cover most of the country.

The leftist president, who took office in December 2018, had long criticized the use of soldiers in the crackdown on violent cartels.

The National Guard, however, is made up mainly of former soldiers and has a military leadership. Critics say its personnel is not properly trained to handle civilian tasks.

Although the force was formally inaugurated on Sunday, National Guard members have been deployed since May to hot spots across the country.

In late June, under US pressure, more than 21,000 National Guard personnel were sent to <a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/thousands-of-asylum-seekers-left-waiting-at-the-us-mexico-border-228198">Mexico's northern and southern borders to halt Central American migrants</a> seeking to illegally enter the United States.

Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said that National Guard members have been trained in police procedures, will respect human rights, and will use force in a "reasoned and proportional" manner.

Maintaining peace and security is Lopez Obrador's biggest challenge: there was a record of 33,341 homicides in Mexico in 2018, the highest number of deaths since the government began tracking murders in 1997.

More than 250,000 people have been murdered since 2006, the year Mexico's military was deployed to combat the cartels. More than 40,000 people have vanished during that same period.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Sunday formally inaugurated the National Guard, a militarized police force aimed at cracking down on the country's growing crime rate and securing its borders.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Sunday formally inaugurated the National Guard, a militarized police force aimed at cracking down on the country's growing crime rate and securing its borders. Lopez Obrador said that the initial 70,000 members would be deployed to 150 regions across Mexico, and eventually, 150,000 personnel will cover most of the country. The leftist president, who took office in December 2018, had long criticized the use of soldiers in the crackdown on violent cartels. The National Guard, however, is made up mainly of former soldiers and has a military leadership. Critics say its personnel is not properly trained to handle civilian tasks. Although the force was formally inaugurated on Sunday, National Guard members have been deployed since May to hot spots across the country. In late June, under US pressure, more than 21,000 National Guard personnel were sent to Mexico's northern and southern borders to halt Central American migrants seeking to illegally enter the United States. Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said that National Guard members have been trained in police procedures, will respect human rights, and will use force in a "reasoned and proportional" manner. Maintaining peace and security is Lopez Obrador's biggest challenge: there was a record of 33,341 homicides in Mexico in 2018, the highest number of deaths since the government began tracking murders in 1997. More than 250,000 people have been murdered since 2006, the year Mexico's military was deployed to combat the cartels. More than 40,000 people have vanished during that same period.

Mexico inaugurates its new National Guard force

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-deports-33-more-migrants-after-deal-with-us-232569">migrant detention centers</a> that have come under criticism for overcrowding and poor conditions will be opened to visits by journalists.

"I'm going to start showing some of these detention centers to the press. I want the press to go in and see them," Trump told reporters in Morristown, New Jersey.

"We're going to have some of the press go in because they're crowded, and we're the ones who were complaining about their crowding," he added.

His comments came after <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-expects-25-drop-in-arrests-on-mexico-border-in-june-231344">The New York Times and The El Paso Times</a> on Saturday published an article describing a Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas as filled with hundreds of children wearing filthy clothing and packed into disease-ridden cells -- a story Trump called a "hoax."

"The stench of the children's dirty clothing was so strong it spread to the agents' own clothing -- people in town would scrunch their noses when they left work. The children cried constantly," the article said.&nbsp;

"One girl seemed likely enough to try to kill herself that the agents made her sleep on a cot in front of them, so they could watch her as they were processing new arrivals."

The article echoed a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) watchdog report released last week warning of "dangerous overcrowding" in multiple detention facilities, which hold thousands of migrants seeking to remain in the United States, most of whom are fleeing violence and poverty in their Central American homes.

Democratic lawmakers who also visited detention facilities reported massive crowding in cells with no running water, where children and adults lacked access to needed medicines and were deprived of showers for up to two weeks.

Trump had previously expressed little sympathy for migrants in the facilities, saying on Twitter "If Illegal Immigrants are unhappy with the conditions in the quickly built or refitted detentions centers, just tell them not to come. All problems solved!"

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador agreed last month to crack down on undocumented migration, deploying tens of thousands of National Guardsmen to tighten its borders after Trump threatened to impose tariffs.

Mexico's national immigration authority said last week deportations had jumped by 33 per cent in June, while the DHS said it expects a 25 per cent drop in migrants taken into custody along the US-Mexico border in the same month. 
&nbsp;

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said migrant detention centers that have come under criticism for overcrowding and poor conditions will be opened to visits by journalists.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said migrant detention centers that have come under criticism for overcrowding and poor conditions will be opened to visits by journalists. "I'm going to start showing some of these detention centers to the press. I want the press to go in and see them," Trump told reporters in Morristown, New Jersey. "We're going to have some of the press go in because they're crowded, and we're the ones who were complaining about their crowding," he added. His comments came after The New York Times and The El Paso Times on Saturday published an article describing a Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas as filled with hundreds of children wearing filthy clothing and packed into disease-ridden cells -- a story Trump called a "hoax." "The stench of the children's dirty clothing was so strong it spread to the agents' own clothing -- people in town would scrunch their noses when they left work. The children cried constantly," the article said. "One girl seemed likely enough to try to kill herself that the agents made her sleep on a cot in front of them, so they could watch her as they were processing new arrivals." The article echoed a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) watchdog report released last week warning of "dangerous overcrowding" in multiple detention facilities, which hold thousands of migrants seeking to remain in the United States, most of whom are fleeing violence and poverty in their Central American homes. Democratic lawmakers who also visited detention facilities reported massive crowding in cells with no running water, where children and adults lacked access to needed medicines and were deprived of showers for up to two weeks. Trump had previously expressed little sympathy for migrants in the facilities, saying on Twitter "If Illegal Immigrants are unhappy with the conditions in the quickly built or refitted detentions centers, just tell them not to come. All problems solved!" Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador agreed last month to crack down on undocumented migration, deploying tens of thousands of National Guardsmen to tighten its borders after Trump threatened to impose tariffs. Mexico's national immigration authority said last week deportations had jumped by 33 per cent in June, while the DHS said it expects a 25 per cent drop in migrants taken into custody along the US-Mexico border in the same month.

I want the press to go and see migrant detention centres: Trump

Before dawn on Wednesday, National Guard members appeared on the banks of the Suchiate River in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas, where they supported immigration agents checking documents of foreigners attempting to cross the border from Guatemala on rafts.

Migrant crackdown continues in Mexico

Mexico deported 33 per cent more foreigners month-on-month in June, officials said Tuesday, after the country agreed to take "unprecedented" steps to reduce migration in order to avoid US President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs.

The total number of deportations from Mexico in June was 21,912, up from 16,507 in May, according to preliminary figures from the national migration authority.

The upswing came after <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nearly-15000-soldiers-deployed-on-us-border-mexico-army-chief-230133">Trump threatened in May to impose tariffs</a> on all Mexican goods if the country did not do more to slow the flow of Central American migrants crossing the US-Mexican border.

After a week of tense negotiations, the two sides announced a deal on June 7 under which Mexico agreed to send thousands of National Guardsmen to secure its borders and expand its policy of taking back asylum-seekers while the US processes their claims.

That policy, known as "Remain in Mexico," has sent nearly 17,000 migrants back to Mexico so far.

In a separate statement, the Mexican government said it had sent the first group of 66 of those returnees back to their home countries, under a temporary new "voluntary return" program.

The Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran migrants were sent home overland from the border city of Ciudad Juarez after asking to be repatriated, it said.

The migration deal appears to be delivering Trump's desired result so far: the number of migrants taken into custody at the southern US border is expected to drop by 25 per cent for June, the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, said Friday.

Under the deal, Mexico has 45 days to show results.

Trump said Monday in Washington that Mexico is doing a "great job."

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has sought to avoid confrontation with the Republican billionaire, welcomed the comment.

"I'm glad President Trump recognizes that we're making an effort to live up to our commitment to apply our laws and, without violating human rights, reduce the flow of migrants," he told a news conference.

The anti-establishment leftist took office in December promising to welcome migrants but has taken a more hardline turn under pressure from Trump.

In his first month in office, Mexico deported 5,717 foreigners -- down from 10,180 the month before.

However, deportations rose sharply after Trump renewed his threat to close the US-Mexican border.

In April -- the month after Trump made the threat -- deportations from Mexico rose 66 per cent, to 14,940.

The United States has seen a surge in Central American asylum-seekers fleeing chronic poverty and brutal gang violence in recent months. In May, it took 144,000 migrants into custody at the border, up 32 per cent from April and 278 per cent from May 2018.

Mexico deported 33 per cent more foreigners month-on-month in June, officials said Tuesday, after the country agreed to take "unprecedented" steps to reduce migration in order to avoid US President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs.

Mexico deported 33 per cent more foreigners month-on-month in June, officials said Tuesday, after the country agreed to take "unprecedented" steps to reduce migration in order to avoid US President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs. The total number of deportations from Mexico in June was 21,912, up from 16,507 in May, according to preliminary figures from the national migration authority. The upswing came after Trump threatened in May to impose tariffs on all Mexican goods if the country did not do more to slow the flow of Central American migrants crossing the US-Mexican border. After a week of tense negotiations, the two sides announced a deal on June 7 under which Mexico agreed to send thousands of National Guardsmen to secure its borders and expand its policy of taking back asylum-seekers while the US processes their claims. That policy, known as "Remain in Mexico," has sent nearly 17,000 migrants back to Mexico so far. In a separate statement, the Mexican government said it had sent the first group of 66 of those returnees back to their home countries, under a temporary new "voluntary return" program. The Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran migrants were sent home overland from the border city of Ciudad Juarez after asking to be repatriated, it said. The migration deal appears to be delivering Trump's desired result so far: the number of migrants taken into custody at the southern US border is expected to drop by 25 per cent for June, the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, said Friday. Under the deal, Mexico has 45 days to show results. Trump said Monday in Washington that Mexico is doing a "great job." Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has sought to avoid confrontation with the Republican billionaire, welcomed the comment. "I'm glad President Trump recognizes that we're making an effort to live up to our commitment to apply our laws and, without violating human rights, reduce the flow of migrants," he told a news conference. The anti-establishment leftist took office in December promising to welcome migrants but has taken a more hardline turn under pressure from Trump. In his first month in office, Mexico deported 5,717 foreigners -- down from 10,180 the month before. However, deportations rose sharply after Trump renewed his threat to close the US-Mexican border. In April -- the month after Trump made the threat -- deportations from Mexico rose 66 per cent, to 14,940. The United States has seen a surge in Central American asylum-seekers fleeing chronic poverty and brutal gang violence in recent months. In May, it took 144,000 migrants into custody at the border, up 32 per cent from April and 278 per cent from May 2018.

Mexico deports 33% more migrants after deal with US

Security was tight at a border crossing between Mexico's Ciudad Juarez and the United States' El Paso on Monday (July 1), after a group of migrants protested at the slow pace of their asylum claims. Barb wire and extra officers were deployed to this popular crossing, one of the busiest ports of entry between the neighbouring countries.

Barb wire goes up at Texas border crossing after migrants protest in Mexico

President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/state-elections-set-to-offer-relief-for-harried-mexican-president-223673">Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador </a>on Sunday <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-says-national-guard-deployment-to-southern-border-starts-on-wednesday-226694">formally inaugurated the National Guard</a>, a militarized police force aimed at cracking down on the country's growing crime rate and securing its borders.

Lopez Obrador said that the initial 70,000 members would be deployed to 150 regions across Mexico, and eventually, 150,000 personnel will cover most of the country.

The leftist president, who took office in December 2018, had long criticized the use of soldiers in the crackdown on violent cartels.

The National Guard, however, is made up mainly of former soldiers and has a military leadership. Critics say its personnel is not properly trained to handle civilian tasks.

Although the force was formally inaugurated on Sunday, National Guard members have been deployed since May to hot spots across the country.

In late June, under US pressure, more than 21,000 National Guard personnel were sent to Mexico's northern and southern borders to halt Central American migrants seeking to illegally enter the United States.

Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said that National Guard members have been trained in police procedures, will respect human rights, and will use force in a "reasoned and proportional" manner.

Maintaining peace and security is Lopez Obrador's biggest challenge: there was a record of 33,341 homicides in Mexico in 2018, the highest number of deaths since the government began tracking murders in 1997.

More than 250,000 people have been murdered since 2006, the year Mexico's military was deployed to combat the cartels. More than 40,000 people have vanished during that same period.

The bodies of a man and his daughter whose <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/images-of-drowned-salvadoran-migrant-and-2-year-old-child-stir-outrage-230639">drowning images had sparked outrage</a> were returned on Sunday to El Salvador.

Both father and daughter drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande from Mexico to the United States.

The corpses were brought from Mexico through Guatemala to the Salvadoran town of La Hachadura, where Salvadoran minister of government Mario Duran was on hand to receive the remains.

A series of haunting photographs showing the father and child lying face-down in water has stirred anger in El Salvador and Mexico, where the government had faced sharp criticism for its treatment of migrants.

The bodies are expected to be buried in a cemetery in Sal Salvador after a day-long vigil.

Describing the country as "in mourning," the head of El Salvador's Human Rights Commission Miguel Montenegro predicted that people would continue to migrate to escape poverty and "the prostration in their lives."

Until these causes are addressed, Montenegro predicts the country will continue to "lament" tragedies that befall migrants travelling north to find the "American dream."

The bodies of a man and his daughter whose drowning images had sparked outrage were returned on Sunday to El Salvador. Both father and daughter drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande from Mexico to the United States.

The bodies of a man and his daughter whose drowning images had sparked outrage were returned on Sunday to El Salvador. Both father and daughter drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande from Mexico to the United States. The corpses were brought from Mexico through Guatemala to the Salvadoran town of La Hachadura, where Salvadoran minister of government Mario Duran was on hand to receive the remains. A series of haunting photographs showing the father and child lying face-down in water has stirred anger in El Salvador and Mexico, where the government had faced sharp criticism for its treatment of migrants. The bodies are expected to be buried in a cemetery in Sal Salvador after a day-long vigil. Describing the country as "in mourning," the head of El Salvador's Human Rights Commission Miguel Montenegro predicted that people would continue to migrate to escape poverty and "the prostration in their lives." Until these causes are addressed, Montenegro predicts the country will continue to "lament" tragedies that befall migrants travelling north to find the "American dream."

Bodies of drowned migrant and 2-year-old child back in El Salvador

A 17-year-old Honduran <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/migrants-describe-overcrowded-mexican-detention-centers-as-trump-ratchets-up-pressure-229762">migrant</a> described babies sleeping on a cold floor. A teen mother said her sick baby was unable to open her eyes for two days but no one responded to her pleas for help. Another teenager took charge of a 5-year-old stranger because the small child was very upset and had no one else after being separated from her father.

In filings in federal court in Los Angeles late on Wednesday, attorneys for <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/images-of-drowned-salvadoran-migrant-and-2-year-old-child-stir-outrage-230639">migrant children</a> asked a federal judge to hold the US government in contempt of court for "flagrant and persistent" violations of the terms of a 1997 agreement that governs the treatment of children in immigration detention. They requested immediate action be taken to remedy the "deplorable" conditions.

The filings, which include dozens of declarations from the children, come after attorneys and doctors last week visited Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities in South Texas to monitor compliance with the settlement, known as the Flores agreement.

CBP and Justice Department officials declined to comment on the filings. The visitors to the facilities found children held for weeks without access to soap, clean water, showers or even a change of clothes, the attorneys wrote. The unhygienic conditions led the flu to spread among the children, who they said were not receiving prompt medical treatment.&nbsp;

The court filings noted that at least six children have died while in US immigration custody or shortly after being released over the past year.&nbsp;

"With each passing day, more hospitalizations are occurring and more lives are at risk," the attorneys wrote.

"Immediate judicial intervention is necessary to compel immediate compliance with the Agreement, end this health and welfare crisis, and prevent more illness and child deaths at the border," the filings said.

The attorneys requested an immediate inspection of the facilities in the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso sectors by a public health expert. They also requested independent medical professionals be given access and that an emergency case management team be dispatched to speed release of children to parents and close relatives.

Broader concerns

Conditions at the Clint Border Patrol Station outside El Paso, Texas, sparked public outrage last week after the attorneys spoke out about conditions there. The documents filed late Wednesday highlight that their concerns are much broader.&nbsp;

Unaccompanied children - who cross the border alone or who have been separated from an adult they were travelling with - are supposed to be transferred quickly out of border patrol holding facilities and into the care of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which runs shelters for migrant children.

But there are now 178 children in border patrol facilities who have been there longer than the limit of 72 hours, US Rep. Diana DeGette said she was told by HHS on Wednesday.&nbsp;

At the Clint facility, the average length of time children are spending in custody is between six and 10 days, Station Chief Matthew Harris told reporters on Wednesday. Teen mothers often stay longer, up to two weeks, because they are harder to place in HHS shelters, he said.&nbsp;

President Donald Trump has made cracking down on immigration a centerpiece of his administration, arguing that the nation`s policies are too lax and filled with loopholes. But officials have struggled to handle a surge in mostly Central American families and unaccompanied children arriving at the US-Mexico border, many of them claiming asylum.&nbsp;

The administration is working on a regulation that would supersede the Flores settlement, which puts restrictions on the length of time children can be detained and the conditions they can be held in.

Migrant advocates say in their filings that the government already is breaching the settlement.

One 16-year old mother from Honduras described her 8-month-old baby vomiting and suffering diarrhoea while not being taken to see a doctor.&nbsp; 
"My baby daughter has not had medicine since we first arrived," she said in her declaration.

Many babies were not provided with appropriate food, while&nbsp;parents of infants drinking formula "reported having no ability to wash the bottles," wrote Dr. Dolly Sevier, who visited the Ursula border processing facility in McAllen, Texas.

Children described inconsolable younger children who were separated from parents or other caregivers at the border.&nbsp;

"There are little kids here who have no one to take care of them, not even a big brother or sister," one 11-year old boy said. "Some kids are only 2 or 3 years old and they have no one to take care of them."

A 17-year-old Honduran migrant described babies sleeping on a cold floor. A teen mother said her sick baby was unable to open her eyes for two days but no one responded to her pleas for help.

A 17-year-old Honduran migrant described babies sleeping on a cold floor. A teen mother said her sick baby was unable to open her eyes for two days but no one responded to her pleas for help. Another teenager took charge of a 5-year-old stranger because the small child was very upset and had no one else after being separated from her father. In filings in federal court in Los Angeles late on Wednesday, attorneys for migrant children asked a federal judge to hold the US government in contempt of court for "flagrant and persistent" violations of the terms of a 1997 agreement that governs the treatment of children in immigration detention. They requested immediate action be taken to remedy the "deplorable" conditions. The filings, which include dozens of declarations from the children, come after attorneys and doctors last week visited Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities in South Texas to monitor compliance with the settlement, known as the Flores agreement. CBP and Justice Department officials declined to comment on the filings. The visitors to the facilities found children held for weeks without access to soap, clean water, showers or even a change of clothes, the attorneys wrote. The unhygienic conditions led the flu to spread among the children, who they said were not receiving prompt medical treatment. The court filings noted that at least six children have died while in US immigration custody or shortly after being released over the past year. "With each passing day, more hospitalizations are occurring and more lives are at risk," the attorneys wrote. "Immediate judicial intervention is necessary to compel immediate compliance with the Agreement, end this health and welfare crisis, and prevent more illness and child deaths at the border," the filings said. The attorneys requested an immediate inspection of the facilities in the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso sectors by a public health expert. They also requested independent medical professionals be given access and that an emergency case management team be dispatched to speed release of children to parents and close relatives. Broader concerns Conditions at the Clint Border Patrol Station outside El Paso, Texas, sparked public outrage last week after the attorneys spoke out about conditions there. The documents filed late Wednesday highlight that their concerns are much broader. Unaccompanied children - who cross the border alone or who have been separated from an adult they were travelling with - are supposed to be transferred quickly out of border patrol holding facilities and into the care of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which runs shelters for migrant children. But there are now 178 children in border patrol facilities who have been there longer than the limit of 72 hours, US Rep. Diana DeGette said she was told by HHS on Wednesday. At the Clint facility, the average length of time children are spending in custody is between six and 10 days, Station Chief Matthew Harris told reporters on Wednesday. Teen mothers often stay longer, up to two weeks, because they are harder to place in HHS shelters, he said. President Donald Trump has made cracking down on immigration a centerpiece of his administration, arguing that the nation`s policies are too lax and filled with loopholes. But officials have struggled to handle a surge in mostly Central American families and unaccompanied children arriving at the US-Mexico border, many of them claiming asylum. The administration is working on a regulation that would supersede the Flores settlement, which puts restrictions on the length of time children can be detained and the conditions they can be held in. Migrant advocates say in their filings that the government already is breaching the settlement. One 16-year old mother from Honduras described her 8-month-old baby vomiting and suffering diarrhoea while not being taken to see a doctor. "My baby daughter has not had medicine since we first arrived," she said in her declaration. Many babies were not provided with appropriate food, while parents of infants drinking formula "reported having no ability to wash the bottles," wrote Dr. Dolly Sevier, who visited the Ursula border processing facility in McAllen, Texas. Children described inconsolable younger children who were separated from parents or other caregivers at the border. "There are little kids here who have no one to take care of them, not even a big brother or sister," one 11-year old boy said. "Some kids are only 2 or 3 years old and they have no one to take care of them."

Attorneys ask court to intervene against US over migrant kids' detention conditions

Amid gridlock on border funding, the Senate on Wednesday voted 84-8 to pass its bipartisan compromise border funding bill, which would appropriate $4.6 billion in emergency funding for the humanitarian crisis on the southern border.

Amid US migrant crisis, Senate passes Humanitarian Aid Bill

Shocking images of a drowned Salvadoran migrant and his two-year-old daughter who died while trying to cross the Rio Grande river from Mexico to the United States have sparked outrage, underscoring the dangers faced by asylum-seekers.

US migration crisis: Father, daughter from El Salvador drown trying to cross border

Shocking images of a drowned Salvadoran migrant and his two-year-old daughter who died while trying to cross the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-pushes-wall-plan-in-us-mexico-border-visit-189471">Rio Grande</a> river from <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-asks-un-for-more-suppoprt-to-tackle-central-american-migrants-228816">Mexico to the United States</a> have sparked outrage, underscoring the dangers faced by asylum-seekers.

Twenty-five-year-old Oscar Martinez Ramirez fled El Salvador with his 21-year-old wife and their daughter and decided to make the risky crossing from Mexico to the US on Sunday afternoon, according to a Mexican court report seen by AFP.

Ramirez carried the little girl on his back, stowing her inside his t-shirt to keep her safe as they attempted to cross the river. But the pair were swept away by violent currents, drowning before her mother's eyes, who survived the ordeal and arrived on shore.

The two bodies were found Monday in Matamoros in Tamaulipas state.

A series of haunting photographs showing the young father and child lying face-down in water has stirred anger in El Salvador and Mexico, where the government had faced sharp criticism for its treatment of migrants.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist who took office in December vowing to protect migrants' rights, has previously come under fire over an AFP journalist's images last week of heavily armed National Guardsmen forcibly detaining two women and a girl at the Rio Grande.

On Tuesday, the Mexican leader said the 15,000 troops his government has deployed to the US border do not have orders to stop migrants from crossing, and vowed to investigate the controversial detention.

International law protects the right of undocumented migrants to cross borders to seek asylum, and Mexico has not typically stopped them from doing so at its northern border.

But Lopez Obrador is facing pressure from US President Donald Trump on the issue, and his government is eager to show results and avoid the punitive tariffs the US leader threatened last month to impose on Mexican goods.

On June 7, the two countries reached an agreement, with Mexico agreeing to reinforce its southern border with 6,000 National Guardsmen. Washington has given Mexico 45 days to take action. 
&nbsp;

Shocking images of a drowned Salvadoran migrant and his two-year-old daughter who died while trying to cross the Rio Grande river from Mexico to the United States have sparked outrage, underscoring the dangers faced by asylum-seekers. Twenty-five-year-old Oscar Martinez Ramirez fled El Salvador with his 21-year-old wife and their daughter and decided to make the risky crossing from Mexico to the US on Sunday afternoon, according to a Mexican court report seen by AFP. Ramirez carried the little girl on his back, stowing her inside his t-shirt to keep her safe as they attempted to cross the river. But the pair were swept away by violent currents, drowning before her mother's eyes, who survived the ordeal and arrived on shore. The two bodies were found Monday in Matamoros in Tamaulipas state. A series of haunting photographs showing the young father and child lying face-down in water has stirred anger in El Salvador and Mexico, where the government had faced sharp criticism for its treatment of migrants. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist who took office in December vowing to protect migrants' rights, has previously come under fire over an AFP journalist's images last week of heavily armed National Guardsmen forcibly detaining two women and a girl at the Rio Grande. On Tuesday, the Mexican leader said the 15,000 troops his government has deployed to the US border do not have orders to stop migrants from crossing, and vowed to investigate the controversial detention. International law protects the right of undocumented migrants to cross borders to seek asylum, and Mexico has not typically stopped them from doing so at its northern border. But Lopez Obrador is facing pressure from US President Donald Trump on the issue, and his government is eager to show results and avoid the punitive tariffs the US leader threatened last month to impose on Mexican goods. On June 7, the two countries reached an agreement, with Mexico agreeing to reinforce its southern border with 6,000 National Guardsmen. Washington has given Mexico 45 days to take action.

Images of drowned Salvadoran migrant and 2-year-old child stir outrage

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a $4.5 billion aid package to address the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/seven-migrant-deaths-reported-in-extreme-heat-at-united-states-border-230336/amp">migrant</a> surge along the US-Mexico border, including new standards for migrants in custody following reports of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/migrants-describe-overcrowded-mexican-detention-centers-as-trump-ratchets-up-pressure-229762">poor conditions facing young children</a> at overcrowded facilities.

The Democratic-led House voted 230-195, mostly along party lines, to pass the measure, but its future is uncertain. The Republican-run Senate is working on its own version of the bill, and Republican President Donald Trump has vowed to veto the House legislation, with White House officials saying it would hamstring the administration's border enforcement efforts.

Trump on May 1 requested the aid for programs that house, feed, transport and oversee record numbers of Central American families seeking asylum in the United States and straining capacity at migrant shelters in border cities.

Attorneys raised alarms last week after finding more than 300 migrant children in an overcrowded Texas border patrol station, where they said some had been held for weeks in squalid conditions without adequate food and water.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/explainer-how-does-the-situation-on-the-us-mexico-border-compare-with-the-past-225130">Explainer: How does the situation on the US-Mexico border compare with the past?</a>

Amid the ensuing outcry, the acting commissioner of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, John Sanders, said on Tuesday he was resigning.

Democrats emphasised on Tuesday that while they were approving the border aid to address the humanitarian crisis, they were not ratifying the administration's attempts to restrict and discourage immigration, which Trump has made a central focus of his presidency.

"Our legislation is a vote against the cruel attitude toward children of this administration. This bill does not fund the administration's failed mass detention policy. Instead it funds effective humane alternatives to detention that have a proven record of success," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of the vote.

Wooing progressives

But Democratic leaders had to work to secure votes for the bill from progressive lawmakers worried the Trump administration might use the funds for other purposes, such as deportation of migrants.

On Tuesday afternoon, Democrats added provisions to better protect the health of migrants in the custody of US Border Patrol agents, including standards for medical care and nutrition. They also added language to set a three-month limit for any unaccompanied child migrant to spend at an intake shelter unless notice is given.

Another amendment said shelters run by contractors must meet standards of care within six months or risk losing their contracts. Representative Pramila Jayapal, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, agreed to back the bill after that provision was included.

The House legislation would also reinstate hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that was cut off by the Trump administration.

The same provisions that helped win over progressive Democrats were denounced by House Republicans as "poison pills." Republicans said they preferred the $4.6 billion Senate version of the bill, which has passed a committee on a bipartisan basis, and includes money - left out by the House - to pay overtime for Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees.

The House bill is a sham that "does not help our overstretched law enforcement authorities," said House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.

With administration officials warning they will soon run out of funds at the border, and a one-week congressional recess coming up next week, House Democrats hurried to pass the measure on Tuesday. But the Senate has yet to pass its version, and the two chambers must agree on the same legislation before it is sent to Trump.

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a $4.5 billion aid package to address the migrant surge along the US-Mexico border, including new standards for migrants in custody following reports of poor conditions facing young children at overcrowded facilities.

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a $4.5 billion aid package to address the migrant surge along the US-Mexico border, including new standards for migrants in custody following reports of poor conditions facing young children at overcrowded facilities. The Democratic-led House voted 230-195, mostly along party lines, to pass the measure, but its future is uncertain. The Republican-run Senate is working on its own version of the bill, and Republican President Donald Trump has vowed to veto the House legislation, with White House officials saying it would hamstring the administration's border enforcement efforts. Trump on May 1 requested the aid for programs that house, feed, transport and oversee record numbers of Central American families seeking asylum in the United States and straining capacity at migrant shelters in border cities. Attorneys raised alarms last week after finding more than 300 migrant children in an overcrowded Texas border patrol station, where they said some had been held for weeks in squalid conditions without adequate food and water. Explainer: How does the situation on the US-Mexico border compare with the past? Amid the ensuing outcry, the acting commissioner of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, John Sanders, said on Tuesday he was resigning. Democrats emphasised on Tuesday that while they were approving the border aid to address the humanitarian crisis, they were not ratifying the administration's attempts to restrict and discourage immigration, which Trump has made a central focus of his presidency. "Our legislation is a vote against the cruel attitude toward children of this administration. This bill does not fund the administration's failed mass detention policy. Instead it funds effective humane alternatives to detention that have a proven record of success," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of the vote. Wooing progressives But Democratic leaders had to work to secure votes for the bill from progressive lawmakers worried the Trump administration might use the funds for other purposes, such as deportation of migrants. On Tuesday afternoon, Democrats added provisions to better protect the health of migrants in the custody of US Border Patrol agents, including standards for medical care and nutrition. They also added language to set a three-month limit for any unaccompanied child migrant to spend at an intake shelter unless notice is given. Another amendment said shelters run by contractors must meet standards of care within six months or risk losing their contracts. Representative Pramila Jayapal, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, agreed to back the bill after that provision was included. The House legislation would also reinstate hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that was cut off by the Trump administration. The same provisions that helped win over progressive Democrats were denounced by House Republicans as "poison pills." Republicans said they preferred the $4.6 billion Senate version of the bill, which has passed a committee on a bipartisan basis, and includes money - left out by the House - to pay overtime for Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees. The House bill is a sham that "does not help our overstretched law enforcement authorities," said House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy. With administration officials warning they will soon run out of funds at the border, and a one-week congressional recess coming up next week, House Democrats hurried to pass the measure on Tuesday. But the Senate has yet to pass its version, and the two chambers must agree on the same legislation before it is sent to Trump.

US House passes border aid bill, Trump vows veto

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